To Live Comfortably
by MsRenai21
Summary: Jeanne Kirstein wants nothing more than to hurry on through secondary school so she can live an easy and carefree life within Sina country. The only problem is that she finds out things don't always turn out the way we want them to.
1. Intro

_I was scared. _

_My heart was beating so fast I felt as though it would rip right through my chest. But I was here. I was finally here. _

"_Hey__,__ Jeannie__, what's up? Why did you wanna see me here?" _

_My face was hot and I knew the blush would stand out against my pale skin. I inhaled and looked into his intense green eyes, gaining a moment of courage. _

"_I__, uh... I just wanted to hang out is all." I was never good at lying. _

_"Then why not invite Mikasa or Armin as well?" He tilted his head to the side.__G__od__, he's perfect. _

_I sighed and looked away from him. __"__Eren__, I needed to tell you something. And I can't do it if they're both here."_

_It was time. _

_"The truth is...I like you. I like you a lot, so much that I can't stand it. I want to be your girlfriend. I want to go on stupid dates with you and hold your hand and all the gross stuff that boyfriends and girlfriends do."_

_I wish I didn't look up to his face, to those green eyes. Those green eyes that screamed rejection. He was never good at hiding what he was thinking. _

"_Jeannie__, I...I don't...I don't know what to say."_

_Too late. I knew what you wanted to say. I couldn't stop myself. _

_"It's because of Mikasa, right?" I screamed at him. "You're more interested in her, aren't you? What does she have that I don't? I'm just as good as her!" My eyes stung; I was about to cry. "She's all you ever noticed."_

_He wasn't happy about that. I'd never seen those green eyes look so angry before, especially directed towards me. It hurt to see that. _

_He took a step forward. "What's your problem? You knew I liked her; why are you acting like this? Jeannie, this isn-"_

_"Just shut the hell up, you trash!" I was beyond reason. Oh god, he looked hurt. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. "Why do you want someone who's so clingy?" _

_Why did I fuck it up?_

_Why did I fuck everything up?_

_"And what makes you think I want to have a girlfriend with a horse face?"_

* * *

><p>I shoot out of bed. Did I seriously dream about that shit again? I rub my eyes a few times before turning to look at my alarm. Great, waking up five minutes before my alarm even goes off. I shift to my night stand and just turn the thing off. At least I'm spared from that disgusting noise.<p>

I let out a big yawn as I stretch, hearing a couple of bones crack. Besides, who fucking has dreams about getting rejected by a douchebag anyway? Most people have dreams of their past lives or something. You know, cool things like meeting a half snake monster or fighting supernatural demons and saving the world_. _

I sit in my bed for a few more minutes before reluctantly moving my amazing and warm covers off of me. I step onto my plush rug that has fortunately saved me from the freezing cold hardwood floor. It, however, doesn't save me from the loud creaking it makes as I walk across it. Gotta love old homes. I hear my mom moving around downstairs as I head into the bathroom and begin my morning routine. Which consists of staring at myself in the mirror and eventually brushing my teeth.

I head straight back into my room, trying to make as little noise as possible. I don't want my mom knowing I'm up just yet. Today's a big day and she'll be crying all over me. I really don't want that right now. It's too early, you know?

Oh, yeah, I guess I should mention I start secondary school today. Not only that, I'm starting at Trost Secondary school, one of the most prestigious schools around. But I'll get to that later.

I rummage through my dresser and closet a little until I find something appropriate to wear. I happen to pick the usual: an olive green top with black jeans. Green is my favorite color, by the way. Expect me to wear it a lot. I finish the look off with a plain black vest before tending to my hair. Not much work is needed in that department, since half of it is shaved off.

I love my shaved hair, but I can't say the same for my mom, who cried over it when she first saw it. She didn't care that I dyed it blonde, she just doesn't understand the shaved look.

Oh well, her loss. My hair is amazing.

And speaking of my mom, I can hear her loud footsteps coming up the stairs. She comes bustling into my room.

"Jeanne-bo, you need to hurry up. I made you breakfast and you need to eat it before you leave."

I sigh. "All right, I'll be downstairs in a minute don't worry."

She lingers in my doorway, giving me a concerned look before turning to leave finally. "Just hurry up, please. You can't skip out on breakfast; monsieur omelette is waiting for you." I groan loudly. She's done this since I was a child. Calling the fucking food "monsieur omelette." Dammit mom, I literally just turned fifteen yesterday, stop talking to me like I'm five.

Yeah, lucky me. My birthday will always fall on the first week of school, sometimes even the first day. I heard that some cultures used to start school in September but nope, here in Rose country we start in April.

I finish dealing with my hair, grab my bag, and head downstairs into the kitchen. I actually smile seeing the omelet on the table despite not really wanting to sit down and eat. "It looks good, maman. But...shouldn't you be at work already? I really don't want you to be in trouble."

She waves at me dismissively. "Oh please, Jeanne-bo, I'm the owner. I can go in whenever I want." I give her a concerned look. "Don't worry sweetheart, I asked Sylvie to come in early and open up for me. I told her about your big day." My mom's smiling at me. That sweet, proud mother smile. Oh no, here come the waterworks. She walks over to me and hugs me, sniffling a little. "Oh my beautiful little Jeanne-bo. I'm so proud of you. You're an intelligent and talented young woman." She pets the part of my hair that's still there. Incredible.

I manage to wiggle free of her grasp and head over to the table and eat. I'll never outright admit it but I love Mom's omelets. I start eating it fast, wanting to hurry up and get out before my mom starts crying again. She moves about the kitchen and cleans her mess up as I eat.

I finish up and basically have to rush out before she grabs on to me again. Our house is also connected to mom's bakery so when I leave, I enter the store. I wave shyly to Sylvie, Mom's old friend and employee. She's older but she's pretty nice. As I leave the store, I turn around and see Mom has followed me. I give her a small wave and she returns it. She'll be fine. By the time she gets to work it'll be busy and she'll have more to worry about than just me.

Did I mention that I live right in the heart of the Trost district? No? Well shit. Yeah, I love downtown where it's an interesting mix of urban and really old houses and apartments. Like the kind of houses that are built upwards. Something like mine, where it's a three story building and the ground floor is mom's little shop. Of course, not all places here have shops connected to them like ours.

I walk briskly through the city. It's actually pretty chilly this morning and I didn't even think to bring a hoodie. At least I live relatively close to the school so the walk there isn't too bad. I notice a couple of groups of kids heading the same way as me but I avoid being anywhere near them.

I don't know them and they'll probably just annoy me.

I turn the corner up ahead after walking on a straight path for about ten minutes. I look up and there it is in all its glory, Trost Secondary. I've passed by this school a number of times but it feels different now. It feels a little more intimidating and daunting. This school is colossal.

I stop walking real quick to retrieve my schedule from my bag. Hey, I just don't want to look like those lost new kids with their noses in a piece of paper and not paying attention to where I'm going. Besides, it's just not cool at all. All right so...I've been assigned to classroom number 104. Sounds good I guess? I promptly stuff the paper back in my bag and keep walking.

I finally enter the school grounds and all of a sudden I feel hyperaware of my actions. I see a few groups of kids scattered around and chatting. Some girls to my left giggle. Shit, shit, I hope they're not giggling at me. Fuck this noise. I hurry up and try to get into the school quickly. So far, I haven't seen anyone I know yet. Good.

The first thing you see upon entering this school is a huge foyer where, again, different groups of students are just hanging around and chatting. I mean, I know I'm here a little early than I need to but still, you guys should just go talk in your classrooms.

As I stride across the foyer something catches my eye. There's a poor girl against the lockers being bullied by...oh no, is that Ymir? Shit, that's Ymir. Oh that girl is dead; you know she's dead. Ymir is an upperclassmen and I think she's about seventeen. The only reason I know her is because she used to babysit me. She was never one with gentleness or kindness. Well, if she was, she had a really funny way of showing it...with constant headlocks and noogies.

Anyway, she's got this poor girl backed up into the lockers, looming over her. The other girl is a little shorter and has a bushy ponytail. Hmm, guess I can call her 'ponytail girl'. She doesn't have any other striking features. Suddenly, a tiny blonde girl enters the fray and wedges herself in between Ymir and the ponytail girl. Rest in peace, tiny blonde girl. I will tell your story to th- What!? Ymir backs off and argues a little with the tiny blonde girl. However, it's clear that Ymir isn't really putting up a fight. Eventually, she just shrugs and walks away.

The whole time these events happened, I realize that I've just been standing right in the middle of the foyer. Good job, me, let's be a little more obvious next time.

Whatever.

I continue walking through the foyer ignoring whatever ponytail girl and tiny blonde girl are doing. I reach the first set of hallways and realize this all the teacher's rooms and general offices. Well, shit. I backtrack a little and enter into a different hallway. These classes are labeled 110-114. Amazing, I have to try a different set of halls. I didn't realize this school also doubled as a maze. I exit these hallways and head back to the main foyer. I lean against a wall and try to scope the area without looking too obvious that I'm hopelessly lost. Kind of. In a way.

At least I know my classroom number, right? I reach in my pocket and pull out my phone to check the time. It's 8:15. Shit, only fifteen minutes left 'till class starts. Well...no that's actually not too bad. I'll make it. I look around real quick to see if anyone's noticed that I was a little lost. No one is looking my way. In fact, some other people are looking terribly lost. I smirk before heading off to one of the hallways on my left.

Dear god, please be the right one. I check the sign on the wall. Yes, these are classrooms 100-104. Jeanne Kirstein, you are amazing.

It only took three tries.

...We're not going to talk about this.

I walk down the hall, passing the other classrooms and finally reach mine. Room 104. I take a deep breath and walk inside without stopping. Some of the kids turn and look at me but not all. I take a moment to look around. These classrooms are really small, though; no wonder the damn school is so big. I think it can only fit like eighteen ki-

Oh my god. Oh my dear lord in heaven you have got to be shitting me.

I'm unable to stop myself from shouting. I'm also unable to stop myself from running over to this fucker and grabbing him by the collar.

"Eren fucking Jäger. Who the hell let you into this school?!" Saying that I'm furious would be the understatement of the year. I'm livid beyond all comprehension.

"Jeannie back off holy fuck!" He wrenches my hands from his collar and glares back at me. "Calm down, you almost ripped my fucking clothes."

"I don't give a damn about your clothes! You're not supposed to be here! Get out already!" My vision is going red and my blood is pulsing. It's too early in the morning for me to get this angry but the mere sight of this fucker sends me into an incomprehensible rage.

"Hey, I passed the entrance exam fair and square." We're in each other's faces now, my golden amber eyes versus his bright green ones.

I open my mouth to shout out more insults but Mikasa swoops in between us and effectively cuts me off. She turns to me first and gives me a warning look before turning to Eren. "It's not even nine in the morning and you're already fighting."

Eren gestures frantically at me. "Did you not see her come after me first?"

"I don't care who attacked first, you need to stop."

Eren grumbles and glances back to me. "Jeanne, you're really going to need to stop pulling this shit all the time. I was actually excited to see you in here but now you just fucked that up. Learn how to be an adult for a change." He turns around and goes back to his seat next to the window. Mikasa sits next to him and I think Armin is sitting right behind him. Tch, whatever, like I care about the golden trio. I turn around myself and sit on the opposite side of the classroom away from that bastard, closest to the door. I throw my bag on the desk and just lay my head down. This is literally going to be the worst four years of my life. I can't believe I have to be stuck with that asshole and his group.

Where is a falling piano when I need one?

As I keep my head down, I hear more students walking in and chatting. Oh god, I think I even hear Thomas's voice. How the hell did he get in this school? Dumbass couldn't even write his way out of a box; there's no way he passed that test. Whatever, I just keep my head down until I hear someone plop down next to me.

"Hey, are you okay?" Her voice is in my right ear. I shoot up immediately and almost fall out of my chair. Dammit, hasn't anyone ever heard of personal space?

Oh shit. It's ponytail girl! In my class and sitting next to me.

I should start calling her the girl that lived. Because she was lucky someone came and stopped Ymir.

I realize that I've been doing nothing but stare at her while I have my own monologue about what to call her. She still looks concerned, but seems a little nervous. "A-Are you okay?" She repeats softly.

I readjust my position on my chair and try to answer her properly. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm perfectly normal, by the way."

"Okay...uh, you just looked a little sad." She holds her hand out to me. "My name is Sasha Braus. I'm from the Dauper district in Rose country." She's smiling so wide. Is she even all there in the head?

I find myself shaking her hand regardless of my thoughts. "Uh, hi, I'm Jeanne Kirstein. I was born and raised here in Trost." I gesture down to the ground.

Her eyes light up and she grabs my hand with both of hers. "Oh my god! Kirstein as in, like, the bakery down the road?"

Oh no.

"Yeah, it's my mom's store." She starts bouncing up and down. I'm trying so hard to ignore all the looks we're getting from the other classmates but it's insanely difficult. People who know me or at least those who have lived here long enough know not to bring this up. And yet here she is announcing it for the entire classroom. I tug her hands down and bring her closer to me and look her dead in the eyes. "Don't go parading this information around. I can't even begin to tell you how embarrassing it is for me."

She raised an eyebrow and moves her head to the side. "Why? I'd love it if my father owned a bakery. It would be so cool!" I frown.

And if this morning couldn't get any worse, well, it just fucking did.

A short guy with a buzz cut came and sat down behind Sasha and he was just staring at us. Is he...? Is he fucking blushing? "Oh, sorry guys, don't let me ruin your love fest. It's kinda hot, to be honest."

Love fest...? I turn back to Sasha and realize not only are we both holding hands - well, her two hands are over mine - but our faces are really close to each other's. I pull back immediately and turn to face the bald kid. "Look here, fucker, don't assume shit like that." I try to give him my most menacing glare. It kind of works.

He holds his hands up in defense. "Whoa, whoa, I'm really sorry." Sasha is giggling the entire time. I'm glad she thinks this is funny.

As I say a few more derogatory words about buzz cuts to this boy, tiny blonde girl sits right next to him. I immediately turn my attention to her. Apparently Sasha did the same as she's now thrown herself onto tiny blonde girl's half of the desk, clutching onto her hands. "Thank you so much for saving me! Are you a god? You must be God because of how kind and righteous you are!" How in the hell can you act like that and not feel any sort of embarrassment?

I gently remove Sasha from her desk and turn to ask her a question. "How do you know Ymir? She would never stop for anyone unless she really liked them."

The tiny blonde smiles at me. "Oh, that's because I'm her girlfriend."

How those two got together I will never understand. They seem like polar opposites. "And I'm really sorry about her attacking you earlier," she says to Sasha. "Ymir gets easily jealous sometimes and she completely overreacted. I promise that she won't do it again, though." She then jumps as if she just remembered something. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Historia Reiss. I just moved to Trost over the break from Sina country."

We look at her in awe. Why the hell would you choose dinky little Trost over the districts in Sina? Maybe she just wanted to be closer to Ymir? How the fuck did they even meet?

Just then, the bald guy next to her speaks up as well, thinking he's a part of our little group. Fucking nerd. "Yo, the name's Connie Springer. I'm from the Ragako district in the southern part of Rose country."

Sasha smiles at him and talks next. "Oh hey, that's close to where I'm from!" She introduces herself to Connie and Historia and then all three turn their attention towards me. I give them my name and that I'm from Trost. Of course, they immediately talk about my mom's bakery. I swear that establishment will haunt me for the rest of my life.

When I look back up at the class, I notice that all the seats are taken up, except for the one next to Armin. It seems that we're going to have a late student in the class. I can't wait to see their stupid face. Everyone is just idly chatting as the bell signifying the beginning of the day goes off. Wait...where is our teacher? They should have definitely been here by now.

Fifteen minutes pass by before our teacher finally appears. And holy shit, is he a big man. He hurries over to the desk on the opposite wall from mine and sets his briefcase down. Oh god, and I should mention that disaster of an outfit he's wearing. He has on khakis that are clearly too short for him. Sorry, but most companies don't make clothes in size 'colossal'. And to top it all off, he's got a musty, old beige colored tweed jacket. This man looks absolutely hysterical. He doesn't say a word or look at any of us as he gets himself ready. Kind of interesting how a teacher is late the first day. I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I will cherish this memory.

After a few minutes, he straightens up and clears his throat. "Good morning, honor students. My name is Mike Zacharius and I will be both your homeroom teacher and mathematics teacher for your entire time at Trost Secondary. Whether that be for today only or the entire four years is up to you. Now if you will give me a mome- ponytail girl to my left, please put the candy away; I can smell it from here." He glances over to Sasha and flares his nostrils. Damn, I didn't even notice her grab the candy and I'm sitting right next to her. This teacher has an amazing sense of smell. He has a titanic size nose to boot.

Maybe he has...titan olfactory skills. Hmm.

Sasha points to herself in a state of pure confusion. The teacher simply nods at her and she hastily shoves her candy back into her bag. Afterwards, she puts her head down in shame and tries to ignore a few snickers from Connie. "All right, now without any further interruptions, allow me call the roll. I'll only do this for the first week until I learn all your names and faces."

He grabs his attendance sheet and moves to the middle of the room. "Ackerman?" Mikasa raises her hand silently and he checks her off. "Arlert?" Armin mimics Mikasa's movements and vocalizes his presence. He calls Sasha's name next and she offers a small squeak to note her presence. He then calls Mina, Hannah and...Dazzmond? His name is Dazzmond?

"No last name?" Mike calls out.

"Uh n-no sir, but please, just call me Dazz," he speaks up, obviously nervous and embarrassed by his name.

Mike jots down a note and continues calling out names. When he says "Jäger" I immediately cringe and send a glare Eren's way. However, he doesn't look at my direction. Damn you, look at me while I'm angry at you.

Next up is Franz and then me. Of course, I'm too busy fuming over Eren to respond quickly, and Mike calls my name out one more time. Sasha gently taps me on the shoulder. "Uhm he's calling you."

I snap my head up quickly to face the front of the classroom. "Shit, here!" Mike gives me an unimpressed look and continues calling out the rest of the names. I cover my face in an attempt to hide the bright red blush that has crept onto my face. It's only the morning and I have embarrassed myself more times than I can even count.

"Hm, it's a little strange to have only seventeen kids in the class, but I'm not one who arranges these things. All right, since homeroom time has obviously passed us, let us begin your first day of geometry." Mike takes out his instructor's version of our textbook, which, by the way, we had to buy, and tells us to open up to the introduction.

Today is going to be a long day. Seriously, who puts math first?

* * *

><p>Forty five minutes of geometry felt more like three hours of suffering. Now, I'm not that bad at math, however Mike likes to not only drill us with a multitude of information but also create <em>his own problems for us<em>. And I think...I think I caught him sniffing at a few students. I just...?

Once his time is over, he thanks us for our attention and hard work and leaves, ducking his head under the doorway as he does. And now we have a five minute break until our next teacher comes in. I hear a few sighs and tired yawns behind me. I guess others are already exhausted by Mike's strenuous teaching. I know I am and poor Sasha next to me has her head shoved in her geometry textbook.

I nudge her not so gently. "Hey, get up. It's not naptime." I look behind me and see that Connie is doing the same. What a bunch of idiots. I jump slightly as I turn to face the front again because Armin is now in front of me desk. He waves shyly. "Hey, Jeanne, I'm glad to see you in this class. Did you enjoy your break?"

Now I might hate Eren's guts and might be kind of jealous of Mikasa but I never found it in me to dislike Armin, despite his association with those two. I sigh and answer him quietly, "It was all right, nothing too eventful, yeah?"

Armin nods and smiles at me. "Well, that can still be good in a way. Oh, here I have this for you." He reaches in his pocket and pulls out an envelope with my name on it.

"Here, happy one day late birthday, Jeanne. You don't have to open it right now but whenever you get a chance. Uh, I guess I'll talk to you later." I slowly reach for the envelope and quietly thank him. He returns to his desk just in time for our second teacher to come barreling into the classroom. I stuff the envelope away in my bag and prepare for the next forty five minutes. I pray that this teacher is normal.

"Good morning, class! How are you all today? Good, I hope. My name is Hanji Zoë and I'm the head of department of science in this school. You guys are so lucky to have me." Well, this teacher is probably as far from normal as anyone could be.

"Oh, I'd also like to say that I prefer neutral pronouns, such as they or them. So no calling me Ms. Zoë or Mr. Zoë. Hanji is perfectly okay!" They scatter their notes and textbook onto the once-clean teacher's desk. The rest of the class takes out their textbooks and try to keep up with our teacher's sporadic movements and overall energy. I mean, seriously, it's like 9:40 in the morning; please calm down.

They call roll, mainly to learn our names and faces and we finally begin our life science class, which is just a variety of sciences in one class, such as astronomy and meteorology. I'm pretty sure I won't need this at all, _ever. _Nevertheless, I take out my notes and try my best to follow along because this teacher is moving at light speed.

* * *

><p>Once again, the teacher crams us with an immense amount of information and we're left in our seats contemplating whether or not we made a wrong choice in entering this school. We're going to have these same teachers for the next four years. I don't even think I can stand them for that long. Once Hanji leaves, we have yet another five minute break. Two classes down, four more to go.<p>

It's going to be a very long day.

* * *

><p>The next class is history with Dot Pixis. He's the eldest of the teachers we've had so far and he took things a lot slower than the other two. However, he kept taking small sips out a little flask he had hidden in his jacket. I'm surprised he's still working here because of that and I think a few students were very concerned.<p>

After another forty-five minutes of hearing an old man go off on a rant about how our government works, we finally make it to our fourth period, the elective period. This is the first of two classes where we actually leave our classroom, and we each got to pick our elective, so we don't all share the same class.

Students begin to murmur as they check their schedules and see if the others have the same elective. Mine is art and I'm pretty damn sure I won't see any of these people in there. Good, I'm looking forward to forty five minutes of peace and quiet away from them and Eren. I quietly gather my bag and head out of the room first. As soon as I leave the class, I realize that I only have five minutes to find a classroom that I've never been too. I hurry my pace down the hall and back into the main foyer that's now crowded with other first year students chatting and scurrying along. A few people bump into me and apologize but despite this I still shoot them a glare. I maneuver my way through the crowd to the other side of the foyer.

I have no idea where I'm going and I feel myself getting frustrated. I can at least rule out a couple of hallways, the obvious ones being where our normal classrooms are located, the halls with the offices and one of these new ones looks like it leads to a gym. I take a deep breath and head straight to the hallway directly in front of me. I remember from my schedule that the elective classes have a letter before the class number and I'm relieved to see that these rooms have letters.

As I make my way down the hall, I see someone from my class. I think her name is Hannah? She peers up from her paper and smiles at me, looking very relieved. She walks over to me. "Oh thank goodness...Jeanne is it?" I simply nod. "You wouldn't happen to know where the art room is, would you? I'm in Petra Ral's class."

I look at her wide-eyed. "Oh, that's actually the class I'm heading to next. I guess we can find it together." She seems nice and she hasn't done anything terrible to me yet so there's no point in being hostile...yet. She thanks me a few times and we both weave through the groups of students.

We find the room on our left and quickly go in. Hannah tugs slightly on my sleeve. "Do you mind if I sit by you? I get a little nervous around people I don't really know." Despite my desire to be alone, I tell her I don't mind. We find a table with two open seats and I take the time to scope out the room. Thankfully no one else here is from my class so that's a plus. The teacher is sitting at the front, presumably going over her notes. She seems very young to be a teacher, though. She's a petite woman with reddish hair and overall appears friendly.

The bell signals the start of the class and our teacher looks up at us eagerly, not even trying to hide her smile. "Good morning, everyone. Wow, it's really great to see this many students for art. My name is Petra Ral and I'll be your art teacher for this semester." She gives us a slight nod and begins talking about the basics of the class and what she expects from us.

About ten minutes into the class, she gives us our first assignment, which is to simply sketch what is in front of us. This is exactly where I belong and this is the exact kind of art I feel the most comfortable creating. I try not to make it too public, especially around my mother, but I sketch as much as I can in my room. I have a few sketchbooks filled up with doodles and sketches of whatever I thought was interesting, whether it be a random stranger standing outside or a random object in my room.

This is what I want to do. Get through secondary school, get to an amazing art university in Sina, become a famous artist, and live the rest of my life in comfort and wealth. I just want an easy life.

For my sketch, I choose to draw my bag. It's on hand and I can show off my skill to the teacher. Ms. Ral quietly walks around the room, observing the other students' art and giving helpful comments here and there. She finally gets to mine and Hannah's table and takes a look at my work. I'm not too fast at drawing but I'm not too slow either, so I've got enough detail down for her to see what I can do. She stays a few minutes longer than she did with the others. I slowly glance up to see her smiling.

"You're doing such a lovely job, Jeanne. I love how subtle your lines are and how well you've modeled part of the bag. I guess I need to keep my eye out for you." I am completely stunned. Never once did I expect to get such a compliment, especially with how much I generally hate my drawings sometimes. I stutter out a reply. "Th-thank you." She nods and continues hovering over the other students. I'm completely frozen. A few people glance up in my direction and I simply keep my head down at my paper, trying to conceal the blush I know that has crept onto my face.

The rest of the period goes smoothly and I even chat a little bit with Hannah. She really isn't that bad. She has a habit of talking a lot, though, and I find out that she thinks that Franz guy in our class is cute.

Now it's finally time for lunch. I can't believe the school day is just about halfway over, although art class is the one class I wish could have lasted longer. I take my time walking back to class because honestly, I forgot to pack a lunch. Looks like I'll have to wait till I get home and stuff my face. I'm one of the last ones to get back to the classroom and I find that everyone is seated in different places getting to know one another. Sasha, Connie, and Historia have remained in their places, at least. I throw myself into my chair and put my head down on the desk. Historia gives me a concerned look. "Did you bring a lunch today, Jeanne?"

"No, I forgot about it this morning while I was prying myself from my mother's clutches."

She doesn't laugh at that. She's giving me the same look that my mother does when I skip meals sometimes. "Here, please eat this. I'd feel bad if you went hungry, especially since we have gym next period." She hands me an apple. I sigh and take it from her.

"You don't have to do that. I would have been fine."

Connie butts in this time. Glad to know my mistake of not bringing in food is one of the most taboo things around. "Yeah you need to eat something because I heard we have coach Shadis for gym. People say he's the worst one around."

Sasha shudders at the thought, taking a big bite of her sandwich. "What do people say?"

Connie leans forward. "They say on the first day he makes you run the entire class, and if you stop, he'll write you up and keep you for the rest of day. All you can do is run."

Sasha looks absolutely terrified, but Historia and I give him a skeptical look. "Really? So he's gonna keep us from our other classes because we can't run for an hour?" I take a bite of the apple.

Connie nods his head. "Yeah, some of the upperclassmen told me that."

"Right...and if the upperclassmen told you there was a pool on the fifth floor would you go around asking about that?"

Connie and Sasha jump up in surprise. "There's a pool on the fifth floor?" they shout in unison.

I have never face palmed so fast in my entire life. "There's not even a fifth floor, you idiots!"

Connie groans. "Then why would you even say that?"

"It's a prank that the upperclassmen play on unsuspecting first years like you. You're welcome, by the way. I just saved you from embarrassment."

Connie grumbles in response and shoves a few chips in his mouth.

* * *

><p>It's hard to believe that we have to change into our gym uniforms and participate on our first day. I remember back in primary we had the first two days as a free period. Maybe those rumors that Connie heard are somewhat true? No, what the fuck Jeanne, don't buy into gossip like that. Maybe this is just life in secondary school. It's time to put your big girl panties on.<p>

...Did I just fucking say that?

I hurry up and change to my gym uniform and we're instructed to meet outside. Dammit, it's too cold for this. April in Trost is still very cold and very damp. Shit, and I think it just rained like a day or two ago. There's going to be goddamn mud everywhere.

The girls file outside at the same time the boys do so. I glance over a bit and realize how tiny Connie actually is. That is hilarious. From what I can see, I'm a good 4-5 inches taller. You can never tell someone's height while they're sitting down. I also noticed back in the locker room that Sasha is the same height as me so that's something. I look around some more and see Eren. I shoot him a disgusted look but, unfortunately, my eyes get a little distracted. I trail down to his uncovered legs and wow, they're just...they're just so well shaped and toned and so...

_Oh my fucking God._

What have I done. Mistakes were made. Very grave mistakes.

I look away, blushing furiously and begin berating myself. He is the enemy; I can't slip up like that. As I wallow in my self-loathing, Sasha gives me a weird look. It's a strange cross between sympathy and wanting to laugh. No doubt in my mind she'll ask me about this later. I wish a piano would fall on me right now.

Coach Shadis walks over to our group, looking incredibly intimidating. This man is looming over us, scanning us with his hardened eyes. No one can even stand up straight; we're all scared shitless.

That piano would be great right about now.

"All right, listen up, students!" he calls out in a booming voice. A few of us flinch. He narrows his eyes at us. "I am your instructor, Keith Shadis, and I will make damn sure that none of you will ever slack off in this class. Am I understood?"

None of us are brave enough to speak up so we settle for giving him a nod. He doesn't appreciate that. I think I even see his eye twitch a little. "I said am I understood?" he yells louder.

"Y-Yes sir!" This man is not a gym instructor; he's a goddamn drill sergeant.

He tells us to line up side by side to start our class off with some stretching. All goes well until Thomas, a few rows away, accidentally smacks his hand while stretching right into Dazz's face. I want to feel bad for him because the guy doesn't seem to get a break in his bad luck but I can't help but almost laugh at his bloody nose. Shadis sends him off to the infirmary and sends Thomas out to run his laps early. Oh no, I'm starting to think Connie is right about the running the whole time. My lungs are already crying.

After our set of stretches, he sends us out into the track. Today's exercise is to test our endurance and see how long we can run for.

Connie was right. The bald son of a bitch was right.

Coach Shadis makes it sound like he'll give us a break and that this is all part of training for a fitness test coming up in a few weeks. A test on running and speed. I don't want to make any mistakes in case he was lying out his ass to trick us. He blows his whistle and signals our time to run. Sasha and I stay close together the whole time.

* * *

><p>The entirety of gym was hell, living hell. No matter how much you pace yourself, running is still a bitch. My lungs were on fire.<p>

That and I think I also got Sasha and Connie in trouble. That's kind of funny though. Basically what happened was I ran close to another group and hid behind them so I could walk and catch my breath. Sasha and Connie saw me doing this and got the bright idea of following me and mimicking me. It worked well for some time until Shadis caught them walking. I panicked so hard that I ran away from them so I didn't get caught.

From that point on, Shadis personally followed behind them making sure that they don't stop running. I ran alone the rest of the way.

Back in the locker room, Sasha clung to me almost in tears. She was going on about how horrible I was for leaving her and that I should have been punished too. I had to quickly remind her that she didn't have to copy me, and if she chooses to copy me in the future, she should do it correctly. She called me mean again so, not wanting to argue anymore, I promised to give her some free pastries from my mom's shop.

She was instantly appeased.

* * *

><p>We're back in the classroom now waiting for our final lesson of the day. It's grammar and comprehension. I've never heard of this class before but if it's anything like the literature classes we had in primary then it shouldn't be too bad, right?<p>

The door to the classroom flies open. Everyone looks up, alert, bracing for what's to come. We all are surprised with what we see: a tiny man with an angry expression and a weird undercut. Seriously, his expression is somewhere between that of a serial killer and someone who has a stick shoved so far up their ass. He sets his things down neatly in the teacher's desk, completely opposite of how he entered the room. He looks at the desk in disgust and rearranges a few items to his liking. He also wipes his hand across the desk.

"Oi, did you all have an instructor by the name of Hanji?" A few us bod our head. "Tch, I can tell. All right, I'm not big on introductions so let's get on with it. My name is Levi. Don't ever refer to me by my surname." This one is almost as intimidating as Shadis but at least he's not killing us with physical education. He scans the room briefly and purposefully skips Eren and Mikasa's table. I take a small peek in their direction and notice that Mikasa is very tense. That is a sight I've rarely seen, so I wonder if she's familiar with Levi? Who knows. He probably looked at Eren the wrong way and she's getting territorial. I never really understood her, nor do I want to.

Am I really that jealous? Whatever.

Levi goes on to explain what exactly this course offers and what it is. We find out that he's one of the few teachers in Rose country that teaches it and shows his disgust with the lack of grammar being taught in school. He tells us that literature courses are somewhat useless without learning the basics of grammar.

He turns towards the whiteboard and begins giving us our first set of notes for the class. While he writes, he tells us we won't even need our textbook because of how much he despises it. Great! I'm glad we won't need our most expensive textbook of the set. I might keep it around just in case. Levi moves on to tell us that all our exams will come from his lectures, whether they are put on the board or verbal. Which means we have to pay attention to his class.

Let's also not forget we will also have multiple writing assignments to prove our understanding of the lectures.

And to make matters far worse, which is amazing to think that it could get worse, Levi's handwriting is equivalent to that of a child's scrawl. I can barely make out any of the words, so I look over at Sasha to see if she has any luck. Her scrunched up face and squinting eyes say it all. We're doomed in this class.

* * *

><p>My left hand has never hurt so much in my life. Levi writes an insane amount of notes on the board and I think we can safely rename the whiteboard to the blackboard because of how much is written up there. I massage my hand for a bit when the bell rings and signifies our final homeroom period. So we start off with Mike in our first homeroom and finish off with Levi. I don't think that's fair in the slightest.<p>

For these last ten minutes or so, we don't have to do anything at all. I think we just have these parts for student and teacher interaction but I'm sure no one wants to interact with this teacher. Levi checks the time on his watch and clears his throat. "I know all of you are familiar with cleaning up after classes, am I correct? From now on I'm going to pick two of you to stay back each day and clean up. I will also be monitoring you for quality."

Eren makes a fatal mistake in sighing a little too loud. Levi turns on him immediately and says, "it looks like Jäger just volunteered to stay back every day this week. I'll just need to find one other person for today." Eren's face is priceless as he looks up at Levi. Mikasa's hand shoots up immediately. "I will stay back with him today." Levi glances over to her and stays silent, thinking over her proposal.

"All right, fine. It makes my job easier anyway. Don't make me regret this decision."

Another bell rings to signify the end of the homeroom period. All the students are free to go off to their clubs or home now. We start to gather our bags until Levi glares at us and gestures for us to sit back down.

"Who the hell do you think you all are? I am the teacher so I will dismiss you, not the bell."

We quickly get back into our seats and wait patiently for this short angry man to free us from hell. I don't dare look up at him because I've seen these kinds of teachers before. Always so damn offended that we leave when the school wants us to leave. We sit for about two or three minutes before he dismisses us all except for Eren and Mikasa.

Sasha and I are first ones out of classroom with Connie and Historia trailing behind us. Sasha holds onto my bag and uses me as I weave through the sea of other children. We make it into the foyer where Historia stops and asks us three if we wanted to swap numbers. Sasha and Connie smile and immediately take out their phones and trade numbers. Historia looks to me, smiling. I sigh and slowly take out my phone.

Historia is really nice. You just can't say no to that face. I also don't want Ymir coming after me because I denied her girlfriend's request. She thanks me and leaves our little group. I gesture for the other two to follow me and we finally get out to the front gates of the school. Sasha speaks up, "Hey, maybe all of us should exchange numbers. I really like you guys and, well, with how difficult those classes are I would need all the help I could get!" Connie nods in agreement and I can't help but smile a little. We get each other's numbers and I start to walk away when Sasha calls out to me.

"Hey! Can we come by your mom's bakery? We should totally hang out!"

I raise an eyebrow at her. "If I catch you two in there today I'm throwing you out. Save it for another time." I walk away swiftly before she has time to speak again.

Well, I managed to make some friends today and absolutely no enemies. That's a first. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep this lucky streak up. I walk along the main road again on the way to my home and my wonderful, comfy bed. I yawn on the way just thinking about it.

Homework can wait until later tonight.

* * *

><p>The second day of school isn't eventful at all and is almost identical to the first. Well, without as many embarrassing moments.<p>

But on the third day, Sasha and I notice something peculiar. Connie hasn't shown up for homeroom yet.

I turn to Sasha. "Do you think he dropped out?"

She shrugs but looks very concerned. "I hope not! He's not allowed to drop out." The pout on her face is amusing. I open my mouth to say something else but Sasha grabs onto my arm before I can get a word out. "Today at some point we have to find him and beat him up. Are you with me, friend?" Now as much fun as it sounds to double team the bald shorty, I shake my head.

"Just give it a rest; he might show up later. Don't freak out so much." Behind us, Mike clears his throat and signals the beginning of class. Still no sight of Connie. Sasha's extreme concern for the boy has started to rub off on me because I find myself wondering where he'll he is while I'm trying to take notes. In the corner of my eye, I see Sasha sneaking texts on her phone whenever Mike has his back turned.

I wonder if he can smell phones...?

By the time our first class ends at about 9:30, we still see no sign of Connie, and apparently Sasha has been texting him all morning. Her messages varied from asking where he is to telling him he's horrible for skipping. You'd think they were almost a couple with how she texts him. When she checks her phone again for the millionth time, she sighs when she sees no reply. I offer her my condolences in the form of shaking my head at her in shame. She sticks her tongue at me.

About halfway through our second class, around 10 or so, Sasha jumps slightly from her phone vibrating on her lap. Thankfully Hanji is too preoccupied in her thorough explanation of why Pluto should never have been declassified as a planet. It's difficult keeping a straight face at how much they gesture and flail their arms when speaking excitedly. Sasha slides her phone onto my lap and gestures for me to read.

I look back and forth between her and the phone a few times before giving in and reading. Oh joy, Connie is alive after all.

** Connie you're horrible**

** where r u?**

** u can't skip out like this!**

** cooonnnnniiiieeeeee**

Those are a few of Sasha's millions of messages. I scroll down a little to see what Connie has to say for his tragic mistake.

** hOLy sHIt!**

** Damn yo im really sorry**

** I slept in brah**

** fuck me sideways**

As I hand back the phone, another text pops up from Connie.

** hey its pretty cool to have two hot girls asking 4 me lol**

I roll my eyes so hard. I take the liberty of responding for Sasha.

** shut the fuck up u nerd**

** nobody wants ur bald head**

Content with the insult, I hand the phone back to Sasha just in time for Hanji to finish their long winded rant. They now begin talking about an upcoming lab meeting next week as an introduction to the lab rooms. Sasha nudges me with her elbow. I slowly turn my head to the side and look at her. "What is it, Sasha?" I whisper angrily.

Uh oh, her face. She's plotting something and I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Sasha raises her eyebrows. "We should skip and head over to Connie's house." I stare at her incredulously. Who in their right mind would be so stupid to even consider something like that?

It's the third day.

And she wants to skip class all because the bald fuck boy couldn't get out of bed this morning. But I'm conflicted because I really don't want to stay here. I guess it sounds fun. But shouldn't Connie's parents be home? Shouldn't they rush his ass to school now?

While I question everything to myself, Sasha has been texting Connie again and she whispers to me, "He is basically begging us to come over. Come on, we'll leave right after this class."

A small voice in my head says 'no' but my heart says get the fuck out of this school. It's actually screaming at me. I reluctantly nod to Sasha. "Fine, I'll go. But we need to be fast, okay?" Sasha smiles back at me and starts to slowly pack her bag.

Once Hanji's class is over and they leave the room, Sasha and I gather our things and slip out. The hallways are eerily quiet now without any students hanging around. They're all sitting in class like good little angels, not like us. We peek our heads around corners just in case a teacher or Pixis should walk by. The coast is clear so we beeline for the foyer. My heart is pounding and adrenaline is pumping through me. I'm only skipping class but it feels like I've just robbed a bank. I glance at Sasha and she seems to be fine, albeit giggling a lot. I swat at her shoulder to stop her but she ends up giggling even harder.

I guess it's contagious because I can't help but giggle as well.

"Sasha, we're not out of the school yet. We need to focus." We rush quickly through the foyer and out to the school grounds. Over to my left I see coach Shadis out with a class. His back is turned to us but he could turn around at any moment. Shit, what do we do? As I question myself, Sasha tugs on my bag and rushes me behind a bush. "We can't hide behind here forever!"

She throws her hand over my mouth to silence me. She raises a finger to her mouth and tells me to be quiet.

Sasha looks over the bush and watches Shadis carefully. I can hear him shouting from here and it almost sounds like...like its getting quieter? "Come on, let's go now!" She pulls me to my feet and holds onto my wrist as she leads across the grounds and past the school gate. We're free from school and I feel a mix of excitement and despair. Sasha starts leading me down the main road but I stop her.

"Sasha, we can't go that way; my mom's store is there!" I panic at the thought of my mother seeing me skip school. She would never ever let me live it down. Not to mention the amount of trouble I would be in and my father would probably give me a four hour lecture about it over the phone.

Sasha pauses for a moment and thinks. I hope she doesn't hurt herself. "Well, you've lived here all your life, yeah? Do you know a better way to the school's dormitories? We literally have to pass your mom's store."

I stand there at a loss of what to do. We've come this far and not its all fucked up. I sigh. "We would need to turn around and take the back roads. It will take longer but I really don't want to get caught by my mom." She nods and we turn around, pass the school again, and head towards the alleys linking to the main road. There's still a lot of people around, of course, but none of them recognize me, thankfully. While I'm carefully mapping out the area in my head, Sasha is taking her time and sightseeing. There's not much to see since it's all just buildings close together and windows and people. Trost can be really boring, okay?

We exit the alley ways and are back on the main road. Good news is that we've completely passed my mom's shop. Bad news is that we didn't pass it by much and there's still a good chance of me being seen by one of mom's friends. I tell Sasha to walk quickly down the sidewalk. It doesn't make sense for the school's dormitories to be a damn fifteen to twenty minute walk away from the school. Then it dawns on me. Doesn't Sasha live at the dorms too? Shouldn't she fucking know where it is?

"I thought you were only living here because of the school. Don't you live at the dorms?" I ask angrily.

She shakes her head. "Nope! I have an aunt who lives here so I'm just staying with her. My dad never wants to be near Trost. He says it's awful." She smiles awkwardly. "N-No offense to you, I mean."

I just shrug and roll my eyes. "It's not a big deal. Come on, let's go see what the bald one wants." I gesture for the dorms and we head inside. We come upon a lounge area to our left and we see our tiny friend hanging out on one of the couches, browsing his phone. The fucker is still in his pajamas and looking like a complete slob.

He looks up when we approach and hops up from the couch. "Hey, guys you actually came! Did you have trouble sneaking out?"

I open my mouth to complain but Sasha speaks over me. "Nope! None at all. We almost ran into Shadis but he left in time."

I start wishing I never left. It feels awkward just standing here with two people I barely know. Connie gestures towards the stairs. "Ready to head up? I swear my room isn't that bad yet." I cringe slightly from his words but follow him reluctantly.

He was right. He has a disgusting habit of being right all the time. His room is pretty decent aside from a few dirty shirts tossed to the side and some school notes on the floor. I look around the room some more. This is actually pretty spacious from what I've heard. And he doesn't share the room with anyone so that's a plus I guess. Connie shrugs. "So what should we do?"

I am shocked. "You begged us to skip class and you don't even know what you wanted to fucking do?"

He puts his hands up in defense. "Hey I was just lonely and didn't feel like coming to school."

Before I have a chance to wrap my fingers around that shorty' neck, Sasha comes in between and suggests that we all watch a movie together. Connie's eyes light up immediately and he dashes over to a box near his TV and starts picking out random movies. I sigh and find a place in his bed to sit down while Sasha meanders over to his DVD box, gushing over the movies he has.

They end up selecting the entire _Saw_ series. It turns out that Connie and Sasha are huge fans of horror films, to my dismay. When they ask for my approval, I gulp and reluctantly agree. I can't let them know that I can't stand horror films, especially the ones with an immense amount of gore.

Well, it's time. I watch with anxious eyes as they set up the film.

* * *

><p>We got through the first two films when Sasha and Connie decided that they were hungry. I don't know how. How can you eat after...after THAT? Unfortunately, they know that I'm not good with horror films due to my constant yelping and covering my eyes. Sasha laughed at me and Connie smirked like the little bastard he is. They're both bastards.<p>

After much discussion, they decide on Taco Bell for lunch. I seriously don't think I can stomach anything but I can hear the rumbles of protest. I guess I should try and eat something. And of course we have to fucking leave and risk getting caught again.

Connie settles for a hoodie over his T-shirt and keeps his plaid pajama bottoms on. Fucking slob. I berate him for his life choices and he simply brushes me off. All three of us head out of the dorms and back out to the streets to Taco Bell. It's not close to my mom's store so I'm safe. We chat for awhile on the way and I realize that these two bastards are actually funny, when they're not being fucking idiots. Once we reach the place, Sasha bounds in, quickly followed by Connie and I.

As predicted, Sasha orders a fuck ton of food and surprisingly Connie does the same. I haven't fully recovered from the gory shit so I settle for a quesadilla. We sit down at one of the tables and I watch as they devour their meals at record speed. I can't help by smile. I should stop that somehow. I take out my phone real quick and check the time. My heart almost skips a beat to see that not only has school just ended but...I have two missed calls from my mom and a voicemail waiting. I stare at my phone for a long time and I think Sasha and Connie both notice.

"Hey, Jeanne? What's up? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Sasha at least sounds concerned, unlike Connie who spits out, "Did you get a message from Jigsaw?" I'm going to punch that fucking smirk off his face. But first, there's something more important to attend to. Like seeing why my mother has been calling me. And speak of the goddamn devil she's calling me right now. I slip away from the table and shakily answer the phone.

"H-Hello?" I brace for impact.

"Jeanne Kirstein, where on earth are you? I've been waiting by your school to come see you and I was told you aren't here?" I'm frozen in place and I can't seem to find anything to say. Of course, my mother takes the silence as a personal offense and screams at me some more. "Where in the hell are you?"

I gulp. "I-I'm out with friends. I'm only...only like ten minutes from the store."

"Come back home this instant." She hangs up and I'm left standing there just staring at the floor.

After a few moments, Sasha comes over to me and gently places a hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right? Jeanne, you look like you're going to cry."

I shake my head. "My m-mom wants me to come back now. I-I'll see you guys tomorrow." I stuff my phone back into my pocket, grab my bag from the chair, and leave.

* * *

><p>"What are you thinking? Skipping school already? It's only the third day, Jeanne!" My mother shouts at me. It's been like this for ten minutes now and I haven't been able to get a word in. I'm not so much scared anymore as I'm furious. I don't back down in arguments; they only make me more confrontational.<p>

"Just leave it alone, _maman_. It's not a big deal. It was only one day."

I interrupt her and she doesn't like that. "It is a big deal. You finally get into the school of your dreams and here you are wasting your chance at being successful."

"It was only one fucking day!"

"Don't you dare speak to me like that. I am your mother. My god, Jeanne, I can't wait for your father to hear about this. Squandering your chance at a good life."

That's it. I've had it; I'm done with this argument. I get up and head for my room with my mother in tow. She's yelling at me to come back but I'm ignoring her. It was just a small, one time mistake. Why can't she just fuck off.

I reach the sanctuary that is my room but my mother is right here with me. "Don't walk away from me while I talk to you, Jeanne. You did something stupid so you have no choice but to do as I say!"

"Get the fuck out of my room, old hag!" I turn on her and she backs away through the door and I slam it in her face. My vision is red from how furious I am. I hear her stomp off, cursing my name but I don't care right now.

She'll probably bring this up later as well but I don't care.

I don't fucking care.

* * *

><p>On that night, my mother and I managed to calm down enough to reach an agreement of me being grounded for a week. Well, I didn't agree but I wasn't in the mood to fight anymore.<p>

Thursday was rainy and uneventful. The skies mourned for me and my new punishment. Sasha and Connie apologized to me constantly that day and Sasha even offered me half of her lunch.

A very rare even indeed. I accepted it graciously.

After school, I came straight home and my mother was pleased to see that I had listened to her. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to go around acting like a fool when I'm already in trouble. The worst part about the punishment is that she told my father. So I'm expecting a phone call from him sometime this weekend.

I should quickly mention that my dad is currently stationed at Stohess in Sina country. One of the few requirements of his military service.

I'm not sure what's worse though. Him lecturing me in person or on the phone. At least on the phone he can't see me roll my eyes.

* * *

><p>Today is Friday and it's still rainy and cold out.<p>

I had a difficult time getting out of my warm, comfy bed. The covers had never felt so warm and soft in my life. I get up, do my routine, and put on one of my father's sweatshirts that I stole from his room. He only lives with us for half of the year so I doubt he'd even notice it was gone.

It's nice and baggy and it makes me feel safe.

I go downstairs to search for an umbrella because I'll be damned if I get soaked before even reaching the school. The first thing that I notice is that mom is down at the shop. Friday mornings are always so busy for us. She left me a note saying she made me lunch and I find myself getting a little more excited than I should. I grab it and head out.

Mom waves at me as I pass her and I give her a small nod in response. She's still incredibly angry with me.

* * *

><p>I make it to school just fine and a little wet. When I reach the class, Sasha bounds up and hugs me, telling me I'm such an amazing friend. I politely tell her to stop hugging me and that she's a weirdo.<p>

Because she's the biggest weirdo in the world.

I sit down and close my eyes. I just want this day to be over with quickly. The bell rings at the beginning of homeroom and once again Mike is late. This is like the third time this week. Aren't teachers supposed to be amazingly punctual? Maybe he's not coming in today? You can't just show up late after getting kids' hopes up, making them think you're not coming in.

It's not until about ten minutes later he shows up with...with a new student or somebody? I'm not sure but this kid looks so out of place. His clothes look almost like hand me downs. Everyone in the class has quieted down to glance or stare at the newcomer. He's avoiding eye contact with the class and only focusing on what Mike is telling him but he looks extremely worried. From what I know about Mike, he seems quite happy despite not showing it on his face.

After handing the boy a few papers, Mike clears his throat to get our attention. He stands a head taller than the boy and places a hand firmly on his shoulder. The boy moves to face the class and offers a nervous smile. Jesus, look at all those freckles, how the fuck old are you? It's like, he looks like a person our age but he's got such a baby face and really big brown eyes. They probably look bigger now because of how nervous he is.

"Class, is like to introduce you to our newest student. We'll finally have the even eighteen that we were supposed to in the beginning." He gestures for the boy to speak up, taking his hand off his shoulder.

"G-Good morning everyone! My name is Marco Bodt and I recently moved here from Jinae. Uh, I hope to get along with you all and that all of us our successful!" What a fucking dork. I guess he's one of those goody two shoes honor students. I hate those kinds of people. Before he move to sit down next to Armin, Mike stands closer to him. Marco shrinks away awkwardly and Mike...did he just sniff him?

I think he just sniffed Marco.

Mike pulls back and smiles approvingly. "You lived in deep rural area, didn't you? Did you, by chance, live on a farm?" Marco nods weakly and Mike chuckles. He tells Marco to take his seat and that class is about to begin.

Marco takes a quick survey of the room and stops when he looks at me. He's looking right at me.

What the fuck, Marco? You wanna fight? Stop fucking staring, you freckled rube.

I look back at him and he blushes. This whole time he's also been walking to the seat next to Armin but not paying attention because the fucker won't stop looking at me. Tch, whatever. I've entertained this for far too long, so I look away.

Next thing I hear is a yelp and thud. I turn around quickly to see what happened and it turns out that Marco tripped over something and fell over. He's scratching the back of his head nervously as Eren and Armin come to his aid.

I can't believe this.

I can't fucking believe we have another idiot in this circus of a classroom.

Welcome to Trost Secondary's freak show.


	2. Teen Angst

"He likes you."

"Shut the fuck up, Sasha."

"No, I'm serious. I think it was love at first sight."

"Sasha_, I'm serious._ Shut the fuck up_."_

I don't want to hear this bullshit right now. I'm trying to forget that Marco Bodt even exists. That freckled rube is literally a walking disaster. Why the fuck was he staring at me so hard? And blushing for that matter?

We just may never know.

However, the entire class saw it, so Sasha hasn't been the only one to heckle me about it. Her little wingman Connie has not relented in his comments as well. His, however, have been a little more vulgar, often implying that we should date or at least fuck.

Fuck off, you bald little shit.

We're currently in Pixis' history class now, although it's about to end. Good, I can't wait to have a solid forty five minutes away from these idiots.

Pixis decides to end class a little early for "Friday's sake" so we have a few minutes before we can actually leave. Goddamnit, this is literally the last thing I wanted. I start packing my bag, getting ready to bolt out of the classroom when it's time. Sasha is leaning over Connie's table and they're chatting idly.

I hope they're not talking about me. Just...just gossip about how stupid Marco is. Speaking of him, I see our other classmates talking to him and wanting to get to know him. He's smiling from ear to ear and laughs a little when he's explaining something. Even Eren leans over and cracks a joke. _Disgusting_. I glare at Eren before turning my attention back to Marco, who I might add, looks in my direction. He blushes a little and offers me a smile. I frown back at him.

The bell rings just a few seconds later and I find myself praising every deity that can hear me. I'm the first one out of the class and I beeline towards the art room. I leave poor Hannah behind because I couldn't bear it if she talks to me about Marco.

Marco. Marco. Marco.

That's all I've heard for the past three hours.

Art class, with easily my favorite teacher, sweet Ms. Petra, offers me peace of mind. Hannah doesn't bring up freckled-boy-who-must-not-be-named and I silently thank her for that. Well, I thank her in my mind, but she doesn't respond. My telepathy must not be working today.

In today's art class, our assignment is to continue practicing pencil sketches in hopes that we can master it by time we go to do our portraits of someone.

I haven't really decided yet who I'll do a portrait of, though. Maybe I'll draw Sasha. But wait, can she even sit still for that long? Does she even have the attention span to remember she's being drawn?

It's not like I have any other friends.

Well, there's Connie and Historia as well but I'm not really feeling it. Connie would be to annoying and probably fidget around a lot and with Historia...her and Ymir are like a bundle plan. And I really, really don't want to be within five feet of her. I still break out into cold sweats thinking about her babysitting days.

I swear I have a permanent mark on my head from her noogies.

Sasha it is, then. I'll ask her when I begrudgingly return to class.

Classes for the day are finished and I snicker as Levi hands Eren the broom and duster. Armin was unfortunately called up next to help clean after school. Maybe he'll go down the line by our last names? That means it'll be awhile before I'm called for duty and thankfully today is Eren's last day of clean up punishment. So it's highly likely that I won't be paired with him.

I sling my back over my shoulder and head out of the class with Sasha and Connie. They're both going on about how terrible Levi's class is and there's no hope for them. I barely listen to them as we walk through the school; my thoughts are elsewhere.

I'm really not looking forward to the phone call with my father later this weekend.

_I really am not. _

"She's zoning out again." Sasha's voice pulls me back into reality. I give them, from what I can tell, a very confused and almost scared look. I fix that immediately.

"What? What the hell do you want?"

"Connie was asking you a question."

I turn my attention downward and raise an eyebrow at Connie.

"I said, did you wanna hang out with us today after school?"

My eyes narrow at him as I reply. "Don't forget that I'm still fucking grounded, pipsqueak."

"Oh shit, I forgot!" He slaps his hand to his forehead.

I almost do the same but opt for throwing my hands up in exasperation. Yeah, it's easy to fucking forget because you're not the one grounded, you little shit.

Before we separate on the school grounds, Sasha turns to me and tells me to let her know when I can draw her portrait. I sigh and tell her I'll text her. I have to ask my mom if I'm allowed to have a friend over during my punishment. That won't be fun at all. But if it's for an assignment she'd have to let me.

We'll see.

Sasha gives me a small hug and I find myself returning it slightly. She hugs me a lot so I've gotten fairly used to it. We wave at each other and I take the lonely road home.

_The only road I've ever known_.

...I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from.

As I enter the shop in order to get into the actual house, Sylvie and my mother both greet me. It's only a little after three in the afternoon so the shop is fairly quiet. Before I make it to the back of the shop, my mother stops me.

"Jeanne-bo, I'll need some help over the weekend in the shop. Do you think you could be a dear and help me?"

She disguises it as a question but I know her game. Saying "no" would be a death sentence.

"Sure, I'll help."

She smiles at me and dismisses me.

I trudge up the stairs in the back of the store and sigh in relief as I come back into familiar territory.

My plan of action involves my bed and some good old napping. My bed is the only one who has ever understood me. It asks no questions and allows me to sleep on its plushy goodness. And the best part? Absolutely no need for commitment and no awkward moments!

I think this why I need more human interaction. I think I should be grateful for Connie and Sasha. But why do all the weird people gravitate toward me? Why can't I have normal friends for once? I'm normal enough, right?

Once again, I get lost in my own damn monologues that I just stand in place staring blankly at nothing. I realize that I've been standing in front of my door the whole time. I should really be more careful; I can't let anyone at school know about this.

I open the old wooden door and lo and behold, my beautiful bed. I drop my bag in some random space on the floor and throw myself onto the bed. I revel in the softness and close my eyes for a few moments.

Maybe a little nap won't hurt. Just a quick nap.

Not even five minutes in and I'm already interrupted by the high-pitched, squeaky sounds of a child. And by child I mean _my mom's cat. _Let it be known that I, Jeanne Kirstein, do _not_ have children. I just simply call this cat a child because she fucking acts like one.

I also call her an assortment of other names such as _Lady_ or simply _Cat_. Her actual name is Josephine. She doesn't care either way; she'll fucking answer to anything.

My mom got her around the same time I was born. In a sense, this chubby little calico cat is my soul sister. Once again I find myself associating myself with nonhumans.

Although I think cats are better than people.

I manage to turn my head over to my open door and I see the little fucker just sitting there in the hall.

"What is it, child?"

She just looks at me. Good. I'm glad I waited for a response from a cat. I snap my fingers a few times and click my tongue. She doesn't even budge; she instead opts for licking her paw. This damned cat. I know for a fact I'll have to get out of the bed in a moment. I lean over the side slightly and call for her once more.

"Josephine. Come here, baby," I coo at her. Maybe gross baby talk will convince her to get in bed with me. It appears I'm wrong because she doesn't glance at me. Fucking cat. Whatever the circumstances, I refuse to leave this bed. Cat be damned.

I pull my body out of the bed some more so that my upper half is hanging off. I pat the floor a little bit. That gets her attention because she finally fucking looks at me. I click my tongue some more and keep patting the floor. She finally gets off her fat ass and waddles over to me.

She comes but not close enough. She stops just a few inches from my reach and starts cleaning herself. You fucking cat, if only I could reach you, I'd yank you so hard. Okay, no I wouldn't. I would never hurt her like that.

But she's really got me feeling some type of way.

I hit the floor a few more times and try to reach for her. Her name escapes my lips and sounds more like a fucking growl than anything else. Finally, she's had enough teasing me and she rubs her stupid fluffy cat head into my hand. I sadly can't resist petting her, despite the torment she just exposed me to.

I slowly retreat back into my bed, coaxing her to me with my hand and a few pets. She takes a few tries to hop on my bed but here she is. She's finally in the bed and I can finally fucking sleep. I let out a sigh of content as Josephine makes herself comfy right next to my side. I turn and lie on my left side, holding her close, and slowly shut my eyes.

Sleep comes fairly easy to me.

I awake a few hours later and it's dark out. I look up to see my bedroom door still open. Whoops, I didn't mean for that to happen. I sit up on my elbows and yawn. My eyes refuse to open up completely.

"Are you awake now, Jeanne-bo?"

I nearly jump out of bed.

"_Maman_! Don't sneak up on me like that!" I'm clutching at my chest now, waiting for my heart to stop beating so violently. She just chuckles and flips the switch to my light. Of course, I'm not ready so it blinds me. What a way to wake up, fucking hell.

"I'm sorry, but you left your door open."

Josephine leaps from my bed and waddles on over to my mother, meowing loudly. She rubs herself against my mother and asks to be held. Fucking traitor. Is this the thanks I get for letting you in my bed?

"Don't forget you said you would help out in the store this weekend, Jeanne."

"Yes, maman, I know."

"And your father should have a small break Sunday evening. He said he'll call you around then so be sure to have your phone close by."

"Yes, maman." I understand, so please stop talking to me about all this since I've just woken up.

"And don't start getting an attitude with me, Jeanne. You're in place to do so. Besides, you would have completely forgotten everything I said earlier by tomorrow so I had to remind you."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Now come down for dinner. I know you must be hungry." She gestures for me to get out of bed and heads downstairs.

I don't know where she gets all this energy to cook dinner right after closing the shop. I can barely stay awake after school and I sit most of the day.

Saturday rolls by without much trouble. I don't do much in my mom's bakery other than manage the cash register. My mom and Sylvie are the ones who bustle around, making sure customers are doing all right and that they leave completely satisfied.

Despite there being a few idiots that came into the store, because this is Trost, after all, I've learned to be polite with them. I can't let my piss poor attitude ruin my mom's reputation.

I even manage to ask my mom if I can invite Sasha over on Sunday. She almost immediately says no, but I threw in the fact that it's for a school assignment. She hesitates at first but agrees to it. I need to start throwing school assignments in the discussion more often so I can actually do more fun things.

That wouldn't make me a liar, right?

I mean, I _am _an honest woman, after all.

Sunday mornings in the shop are always so slow, but it's the day we get the most of our regulars. Well, that and Monday. We also get a multitude of church goers during lunch time as well.

I slump over the cashier's counter and look around the currently empty store. I told Sasha to come in after the church rush, but that ended over an hour ago. She has absolutely no sense of time, or punctuality for that matter.

I find myself glancing out the window frequently, looking for Sasha. I can't believe I'm so fucking bored that I'm _eager_ for her to come by. Drawing her will give me something to do.

I flick my eyes over to the clock and then over to my mother, who's currently chatting with Sylvie. I don't know how they can handle this boredom.

The bells at the door jingle as some customers walk in. Mom and Sylvie greet them with a smile and I glance over.

It's Sasha _and _Connie. She brought that little bald shit with her. I'm going to throttle them.

"Hi, Jeanne!" They both squeak in unison. I offer them a small wave. If only they could understand my annoyance right now. They hop on over to the counter and Sasha slams her hands down. I recoil from the sound.

"Now before you draw me, _you _forgot about something!"

Connie points at me. "Yeah! We didn't forget!"

"What in the world are you two going on about?" Like seriously, what the hell?

Sasha points at me as well. "The free pastries you said you'd give me and Connie as condolence for getting us in trouble in gym the other day!"

I stare at them incredulously. "That was _a week ago_. How in the hell did you remember that? _I_ even forgot about it."

My arms are crossed and I'm looking Sasha dead in the eye. Apparently my intimidation tactics aren't working today because her gaze doesn't falter. Same with Connie, although I can barely see his tiny ass from over the cash register.

"Well, you owe us!" Connie speaks up.

I shake my head and put my hands up. "Excuse me? But I believe I only offered this to Sasha while we were in the locker room." I turn over to Sasha, who's currently looking extremely guilty. "You told him."

She went from an angry face to an almost pouty face. If I wasn't a little pissed off now I would laugh.

"Sasha. That was an A and B conversation." I turn to Connie. "No C's _allowed_." I'm fucking hilarious. Get it? C as in Connie?

You're not laughing? Fuck you.

"But I got in trouble too!"

To make matters worse, my mom comes over to our little group to see what's happening. I try to shoo her off but she ignores me.

"Is everything all right? I hope my dear Jeanne-bo isn't giving you too much trouble." That was dirty, Maman. That was low and dirty and _oh god _Connie's face is turning bright red.

"Jeanne-bo?" he shouts out before clutching his stomach and laughing. "Heyyyy, _Jeanne-bo_!" He walks away a little bit and cackles. Sasha giggles slightly and turns to my mother.

"Oh no, ma'am, everything is just fine. However, your daughter offered me a few free pastries because she got me in trouble at school."

I'm awestruck. Why is this happening to me? What have I done? My mother gives me a questioning look. "Oh, really? Well, then, of course you may have a few free pastries. Both you _and _your friend."

Maman! Whose side are you on?

Connie joins our little group again once he's done laughing at my expense. Sasha gives me a snarky grin as she points out what she and Connie want. I begrudgingly gather their pastries and hand it over to them. While doing so, they introduce themselves to my mother. She's surprised to say the least to find out that that's the Sasha I'm going to be drawing but she's...smiling? Uh oh, my mom likes them.

Wait...she actually likes my friends. Well, that makes life easier.

After chatting for a few minutes, my mother relieves me of bakery duties and I lead Sasha and Connie upstairs to the actual house. Sasha finds it amazing that I live right above the bakery and won't stop bombarding me with questions about it. I tell her that sometimes I get tired of seeing all that bread to the point I can't bring myself to eat it.

She gives me the most scandalized look. I almost want to take a picture.

I tell Connie and Sasha to wait for me in the living room and they both plop down onto the couch. I run upstairs quickly to my room to retrieve my sketchbook and a few good pencils. I'll do the final portrait from my sketchbook drawings. Thankfully it's not due until the end of the week so I'll have minimal distractions from Sasha.

I head back downstairs, cringing at all the boards creaking beneath my feet. Old-ass house. When I get back in the living room, I see that Connie has already made himself at home and has turned on the television. Sasha watches with him as she munches on one of her treats. I make my presence known by knocking on the wall and they look over to me.

"All right, fucktrucks, I need to do this assignment and make sure it's done right. So Connie, shut up, and Sasha, don't fucking move."

Connie sticks his tongue out at me and Sasha...gets into a very ridiculous pose on the couch.

"Draw me like one of your French girls, Jeanne."

"Okay two things. First off, how about no. I'm not drawing you in that position. Second of all, I'm not drawing you eating a fucking cheese danish."

Sasha sighs and sits up properly. I walk over to her and position her to my liking; I am shocked that she didn't put up fuss when I did so. I take a chair out of the adjoining kitchen and set it up so I'm sitting right in front of her.

"Okay, and you promise not to move around too much or to jerk around a lot, right?"

She nods in response. I open up the sketchbook and place it in my lap. I nervously grab a pencil and start sketching a few lines. Connie looks over to me and claps, breaking my concentration slightly.

"Hey! You're left-handed too!"

I roll my eyes and go back to sketching. "Yes, dumbass, haven't you noticed this yet from school?"

"No. I sit behind you, remember?"

"Wait, both of you are left-handed?" Sasha decides to throw her two cents in.

"Sasha, you said you wouldn't move around so much." I try my hardest to sound annoyed. She squeaks and moves back into place and Connie returns to his television show.

All is right with the world.

About an hour and a half later, I get down a few pages of some really good sketches. At one point, Connie migrated over to my side and watched me. Normally, I hate it when people watch me draw but I felt oddly confident with him watching. Especially when I turned to him and saw his jaw was dropped.

I tell Sasha she can move again and she lets out a huge sigh of relief. She stands up and stretches before coming over to me to see my progress.

"Oh my god, Jeanne! You never told me you were this good!"

"Hah?" I mean, they're just preliminary sketches. They're nothing to run home about.

I feel a slight blush coming on because these two idiots won't stop complimenting me. I think at one point Connie even said that I could rule the world with this kind of talent. I highly doubt that, but _goddammit _it made me feel good about the assignment.

The two little nerds of mine hang out for a couple more hours before I have to kick them out when my mom gets done in the bakery. They thank my mother for letting them over and leave quickly. My mom tells me that I have such kind and loving friends. I almost gag from the sentiment.

But all good things must come to an end when I realize that it's the evening and my father should be calling soon. I check my phone a few times just to make sure I haven't missed the call yet. It's almost strange how my mom won't take my phone away during punishment. She's so afraid that the moment she does, I'll get into some horrible freak accident and lose an arm or an eye.

It's around six in the evening when my father finally calls me. I stare at the phone for a few seconds, dreading the lecture that awaits me. Also because my dad is a fucking broken record and he says almost the same exact shit to me all the time.

You know what? I'm gonna go ahead and call it right now. He's gonna tell me, _Jeanne, your actions have consequences. _I'm so calling that shit right now.

Oh, fuck, I should answer the phone.

I press the green call button and slowly put the phone to my ear.

"H-Hello?"

"_Hello__, sweetheart, how are you doing?"_

I gulp. "I'm all right. How's uh...how's the army thing?" I still don't know exactly what he fucking does.

I hear him chuckle on the other end. _"The army thing is going great. Thank you for asking." _There's a small pause. My father isn't really a man of many words, unless he has a clear goal of what he needs to say. If not, then he's just an uncomfortable and quiet mess. Plus I would assume that lecturing your child over the phone could get pretty awkward. You think he'd be used to this by now though, since I only ever seem to get into trouble while he's gone.

_"So your mother told me some interesting news? Care to tell me about it?"_

I sigh. "About...me skipping class? Y-yeah, I kinda did."

_"Well, Jeanne-bo, there isn't an in between with this. You either skipped or you didn't. Which is it?"_

"I skipped." I roll my eyes as well. Good thing he can't see that.

_"Jeanne, you know your education is important and yes, I know you're a smart girl, but you can't carry on with this sort of behavior. What gets me is that your mother told me this happened on your third day of school? What on earth were you thinking?"_

I know that tone. It's his 'I don't want to scare you but I'm actually pretty pissed at you' tone. I know my parents too well.

"I don't know. I don't know why it happened or why I did it!" I'm trying not to sound _too _defensive or angry but I was never good at hiding that. Unfortunately, my father picks up on that.

_"Jeanne Kirstein, do not get an attitude with me. This conversation can either go smoothly or be a complete disaster. It's your pick."_

I clench my right fist and give him a small response that I understood him. I begin to explain that my friend and I were worried about another friend who didn't show up. He texted us later and asked us to skip and even though _I _didn't want to, I went ahead and did it.

He offers me his "parental wisdom," which normally just involves berating me in a non-aggressive manner and telling me how wrong I was. This goes on for about twenty to thirty minutes. Not gonna lie, I sort of tune him out. It's just the same thing over and over again.

However, he throws a curve ball. Just when I thought this useless lecture was over, he brings another thing up.

_"There is also something else you've done that your mother told me about. Do you remember it?"_

Now what in the hell is he talking about? I take a few seconds to think before answering him.

"N-Not really?" I shrug my shoulders for emphasis but quickly realize that he can't see that.

I hear him sigh over the phone. Wow, excuse you.

_"You slammed the door on your mother, Jeanne."_

Oh, yeah.

Whoops.

"Oh, right. I uh, I almost forgot about that." I brace myself for the shitstorm.

_"Now understand this, child. I'm not happy at all about what you did in school; however, I'm much angrier about what you did to your mother. You had absolutely no right to disrespect her like that. She was worried sick about you and treated her like garbage. And that's why you were punished so harshly Jeanne."_

I'm cringing so hard from his words. Okay, I know I _may _have overreacted but please, she wouldn't leave me alone.

_"Remember, your actions have consequences."_

Oh my god, I so fucking called it.

"Yes, Dad, I know." I just want this phone conversation to be finished. I already know I fucked up; I don't need to hear it from him.

He drones on for another thirty minutes about how she's my mother and that I'm in no position to treat her badly, _blah blah blah_. Okay, I get it. I'll fucking apologize to her when we're done. If we're ever going to be done that is.

_"And remember Jeanne-bo, no matter what, I still love you, okay? Please try to be more mindful of your mother next time."_

And with that, he tells me goodbye and ends the conversation. I hang up after doing the same and just sit there on the couch. I hear my mom washing some dishes in the kitchen and I think about going to help her. I think I'm actually starting to feel bad.

Lectures with my dad always put me in a weird mood. I feel like a kicked puppy with its tail in between its legs. I hop off the couch and drag myself into the kitchen. My mom looks up and smiles at me. I look down out of guilt and ask if she'd like any help with the dishes. She continues smiling as she hands me the towel to dry. I slowly take it and try to keep up with how fast my mom cleans the dishes.

"So how did it go with your father?"

"All right, I guess..."

"Is there anything you'd like to say?"

And here it comes. Here comes all the guilt and the "maman's always right and Jeanne is just a fucking idiot."

"I'm sorry I was so disrespectful to you. I'm sorry for skipping school and I promise not to be so horrible." I don't look at her when I say that. I dry off a few plates she sends my way. I'm feeling even worse now. I hate feeling like this.

"I'm really sorry, _maman_." I put the towel down.

Mom dries her hands and gives me a hug. She holds me close to her and I find myself hugging her back. "Oh Jeanne-bo, you know I can't stay angry at you for too long. Just please, next time think of your dear old parents before you do make a wrong decision. Your father and I just want the best for you."

I stay quiet. They always know how to make me feel bad.

"And since you genuinely feel remorseful, I will relieve your punishment effective immediately. Besides, your friends seem like really wonderful people. I enjoyed their company. You tell them that they're welcome over anytime they like."

That surprised me. I move to look up at her and can't help but smile. "Thank you, maman."

She kisses my forehead and lets me go back up to my room. Aside from the annoying lecture from my father, everything went much better than expected. I rush upstairs, feeling immensely giddy, and flop into my bed. Josephine waddles into my room with me and to my surprise she doesn't fucking give me a difficult time. She just bounces into my bed and gives her signature squeaky meow.

Who can resist such a chubby kitty with a smushed face? I click my tongue and she settles herself into my lap. Well, I guess I'm not moving from this spot, but I really don't care. I get comfortable in the bed and decide to turn my television on and spend the night watching random shows.

I fall asleep in that same spot and for once, I feel content.

Two weeks. It's not until two weeks later that anything worth noting happens. I had finished my portrait of Sasha on time and to my surprise, I got the highest grade in the class for that assignment. Ms. Petra was absolutely delighted when she critiqued it and told me that she couldn't wait to see my next project.

I blush a lot in that class. Don't get me wrong, she doesn't always praise me. There's been a few times where I've got nothing but constructive criticism. I guess it's just how she says it that doesn't upset me too much.

And now, let me return to this oh-so-wonderful Monday morning. I'm just sitting in my seat, listening to Sasha go on about stuff she and her aunt did over the weekend and waiting for our second class to start. I lean my head over to the left a little to take a peek at the freckled object of my hate.

What was his name again? Marco Butt?

I snort out a laugh.

Butt.

How unfortunate it must be to have a last name that sounds so fucking much like that.

Bodt. Butt.

As I continue finding new ways of laughing at his name, I hear Sasha clear her throat. I turn my attention to her and she timidly points over to my left. Feeling extremely curious, I look to my left. I instantly wished I hadn't.

Speak of the fucking devil.

Marco Butt.

Goddammit, I mean Bodt.

He looks at me nervously and offers a tiny wave.

"H-Hi, you're Jeannie Kirstein, right?"

Shocked. Abhorred. Disgusted? None of these words could truly explain how I feel right now. _He called me Jeannie. _No one is _ever allowed _to call me Jeannie. Not even my parents call me that nickname. Only one soul on this planet called me that.

And that fucker is in this room.

Eren Jäger.

I slowly pan over to Eren and catch him snickering. Never mind Marco right now, I'll deal with that freckled fuck later. I need to annihilate Eren for the crime he has committed.

Marco looks extremely uncomfortable as I jump up from my chair; knocking it over in the process.

Eren laughs even harder.

"I'm going to fucking kill the both of you!"

"Please, Jeanne. No killing students on school grounds, you know the rules."

Hanji's voice comes from behind Marco as they enter the room. They pat Marco's shoulder, signaling for him to sit back down. He gulps and does exactly what he's told.

"Besides, you wouldn't _believe_ how hard it is to get blood off of these floors!"

That shuts everyone in the room up. Hanji simply chuckles and offers absolutely no explanation whatsoever. I'm starting to get the feeling that they do more than dissect animals. What exactly is in their lab?

The class is very quiet during the lecture.

You'll never guess what we're doing in Shadis's class today! If you guessed more running, then you're absolutely fucking right!

I can't complain too much because my running has improved a lot because, you know, we've been running every day since the start of school a couple of weeks ago. I've also learned not to stay too close to Connie and Sasha. Those two attract the unwanted attention of the coach _and _manage to get into trouble almost all the time.

And now we have Marco in the picture. For someone so awkward and dorky, the boy can run. He can run really well, actually. Not to mention he's pretty tall and it's all thanks to those legs of his. My god, they're so long and wow, look at the muscl-

Stop! _Stop! Stop! Oh my god, stop!_

Am I forgetting the fact that he called me _Jeannie _today thanks to fucking Eren? I won't let that shit slide. But can I just say that Marco has really nice legs. Okay, fuck, I'll stop now.

As I daydream about his damn legs some more, he slows down and runs next to me. I try to make an angry face to show that I'm both mad at him and to hide the fact that I'm ogling over him. How in the world did this happen to me?

He looks completely apologetic. Here we go.

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about earlier and, uh, no hard feelings all right? I didn't realize Eren was going to trick me."

I roll my eyes at the mention of his name. Also, this fucker has such good guy attitude I almost want to gag.

"So I, uh, I want to start off correctly this time. I'm Marco Bodt!"

I laugh. Fine, I'll humor him. "Jeanne Kirstein. Nice to meet you."

He chuckles and smiles brightly. "It's very nice to meet you too, Jeanne."

He's not that bad. I almost feel bad for insulting him all those times in my head. _Almost. _However, just as we're about to share some weird bonding moment, Sasha and Connie make their presence known.

They've got sly grins on their faces and I have never felt fear until now. They're planning something and I'm not looking forward to the outcome.

"Yo, Marco! Wanna hang out with our group later on? We're gonna head over to Taco Bell!" Connie waggles his eyebrows as he speaks. Sasha does the same and nudges me with her elbow. Seriously, fuck the both of them.

"We could even make you an honorary member! You'll have special permission to hang out with us whenever you want. All you'd need to do for initiation into the group is to come with us today."

Marco gives them both a huge smile. "W-Well that sounds really nice, but...I don't exactly have the money to pay for myself." He looks down slightly in disappointment.

Without even thinking, I speak up. "I'll pay for you!"

Connie and Sasha stare at me awestruck. Marco almost trips over himself. Goddammit, now I've done it. I don't even know why the fuck I said it. But it's done. I'll just need to find a way to make it not so needy sounding.

"I-I mean, o-only if you really wanna come with us. It's kinda lame anyway."

Good job, Jeanne. Excellent save.

Sasha instead comes to my rescue seeing as I just made this shit even worse for myself. "We'll all chip in to pay for you, Marco. It's certainly not a problem, I promise!"

He looks around at all three of us and nods. "All right, I'll come by. Thank you guys so much." He stops when he looks at me. I kind of just stare back at him. This is an extremely awkward moment but I can't even bring myself to glare at him or anything. That stupid baby face of his is really hard to glare at directly.

I'm quickly taken out of that trance when I trip over a rock.

Okay so I'll admit, Marco isn't a bad guy after all. His staring thing is still kind of creepy and it's _painfully _obvious that this boy has a crush on me. I mean, he stares at me like he wants me to have his babies. It's really weird. But once you get past that, he's an all right guy to be around.

I just don't understand why he'd set his standards so low as to have a crush on me, but whatever. He'll learn in due time that I'm not worth the effort.

The four of us chat idly as we walk down the main road to our destination. I only really jump into the conversation when I'm relevant but I don't mind just listening to them. It's also a little weird getting used to Marco's voice in the gang. And I can't really explain it but, I almost feel calmer hearing it.

Kind of like, when I'm only with Sasha and Connie, I feel this strange urge to slam dunk them into the nearest river. But when Marco is around, I only feel like nudging them out of way. It's a very strange and conflicting feeling.

We finally reach Taco Bell and Sasha and Connie rejoice upon entering the building. Marco steps in front of me to hold the door open for me. What the fuck, dude. The two little dorks order their shit ton of food, while Marco and I stay on the reasonable side. Actually, I even have to coax him to get some more food. He looks at me to protest but I give him the look. The look telling him that he _will_ get more food.

"Jeanne, I feel really bad about you having to spend money on me."

"It's fine, now hurry up and get your shit."

He sighs in defeat. "Okay fine, but I promise- no, I swear, I will pay you back one day!"

We all take our seats at a small table. Sasha and Connie are on one side while Marco and I are on the other. We happily eat our food with minimal distractions. At one point Connie starts cracking jokes about Marco's crush on me, much to his dismay.

"So when are you two gonna get together?"

Marco and I almost choke on our food. "E-Excuse me?"

"Dude! You're so obvious! You stare at her a lot."

I go between glaring at Connie to almost laughing at how red Marco's face has gotten. It also doesn't help much that Marco is sitting on my left, so I can't exactly cover my face with my hair. He might look over at me again, okay?

"Connie, give it a rest. He's gonna run away screaming if you don't stop pestering him."

Marco looks over to me, extremely flustered, and thanks me. Under the table, I kick Connie's shin. He yelps and holds onto his leg. I give him a smirk.

Sasha has been quiet this whole time, though. I assumed it was because she was too busy stuffing her face with nachos but now it seems like she's deep in thought. I hope she's not hurting herself.

"Hey, Sasha, what's up? You're quiet and it's making me uncomfortable." She snaps out of her thoughts and looks at me.

"Oh, it's nothing, I was just thinking about something." She faces Marco now. "How come you didn't come in until the last day of class during the first week?" Oh yeah, even I forgot about that. That's very odd, because Trost is very strict about their deadlines with paperwork. I wonder if he bribed them to let him in the school. Marco doesn't really seem like that type of guy but what do I know? I just met him.

"Oh, uh, I had a small issue with my application. Apparently, I forgot to fill some stuff out?" He shrugs.

I look at him incredulously. I'm starting to believe he bribed them. "Well, you're insanely lucky because I've never heard of them giving pity to someone who forgot to put in some information."

He looks around nervously. "Y-Yeah, that's what they told me until they saw my last name. That, and they had to deal with my angry mom."

"What, is Bodt special or something?" Connie speaks up.

Marco waves dismissively. "N-No, no, it's nothing special at all. Hey, so, Levi's class is really interesting, huh? I never had a grammar course before!" Is he…is he changing the subject on us?

Too bad Connie and Sasha fall for it. They chime in with their opinions on Levi and the class as well. Connie also starts going on about how much of a hardass Levi was to him before Marco got there.

Despite his blatant avoidance of how he got here exactly, the get together is a success and Marco is officially part of the group. Good job, freckles.

After our late lunch we head out and Connie and Sasha split off from us as soon as we leave Taco Bell. Great, they left me alone with Marco. They fucking did this on purpose. The walk home is pretty quiet and extremely awkward. I keep my eyes on the sidewalk in front of me at all times. I don't dare glance up Marco for fear of repeating that strange incident from gym earlier.

However, I can feel his gaze on me. That's it. I'll just...ask him why he keeps staring.

I walk a little faster and stop right in front of him causing him to stop walking as well. He gives me a curious look.

"All right, spill. Why have you been staring at me since day fucking one of you being in the school?"

His eyes widen and he looks around at everything but me. I think he's even blushing as well.

"Ah yeah...s-sorry about that, it's just...I really like your hair. It's pretty and different." He holds his hands up immediately. "But not different in a bad way! I just mean, like, I've never seen a style like that before. It uh, it suits you, Jeannie, er, Jeanne." I sigh and let it slide again.

"Okay, fair enough." I'm not doing a good job of hiding my own blush. He is the first person ever to compliment my hair. My parents cried over it. I turn on my heel and continue walking home. Marco follows right behind me. Is there a real reason for him to be following me? I know he's from Jinae, but he's been in Trost for a while, he should know his way around.

I glance over my shoulder to him. He offers a smile.

"I hope you don't mind me still being here. In order to get home I kinda have to pass your mom's store." He scratches the back of his neck. I've noticed that he does that whenever he's nervous.

"Well hurry up, you big baby. You can walk me home until then." I go back to walking next to him. Hmm, it's getting pretty uncomfortable walking silence; especially with him looking like he _wants_ to say something. What should I ask him though? Oh yeah, Jinae is a big agricultural district, I'll just ask about that.

"So…you lived on a farm, right? What, uh, what was that like?" I don't know shit about farms other than that they're probably really dirty or something. Or smelly? Pigs and horses seem kind of gross from what I've heard.

Marco smiles and looks up in thought. "I take it you've never been to one, huh?"

I shake my head in response. "I've never really left Trost before."

"Well…it was a nice farm. My dad bought it sometime before I was born and I was basically raised on it. I lived there with my parents and my aunt."

There's almost a hint of sadness in his voice. I'm not sure if I'm hearing things, though; maybe he just misses his old home.

"Did you have to, like, harvest crops?"

He snorts and starts rubbing his nose. "Yes, that's the whole point of a farm, Jeanne." Wow, okay, rude, I was just curious. Dammit, I can't be mad because I know he wasn't trying to come off like an ass.

"Did you have animals?" I must sound so ignorant right now. This is what urban life does to you.

He nods his head. "Of course, we had many! Anything from cows to horses…I think we may have also had a llama. Oh! And we had a lot of chickens, too. They're surprisingly affectionate."

I can't help but let out a giggle at the image of a little Marco hugging a chicken. As I giggle, Marco starts to blush and look away from me.

"Y-You're okay with me hanging around right?"

This time, I let out an obnoxious laugh that has him distressed. He looks genuinely worried that I'm fucking with him; that makes me laugh even more. We stop just in front of the store so I can finish my laughing fit. Once I've recovered enough, I straighten up and look him in the eye.

"You idiot. If I really didn't want you around, you would have known."

He raises an eyebrow curiously. Looks like I need to spell it out for him.

"Yes, we can be friends."


	3. New Map

Okay, so I may or may not have been wrong about Marco. And I may or may not actually enjoy having him around. He's a nice change from the ever energetic Sasha and spastic Connie. He's laid back and pretty normal.

Not to my level of normal, but hey, not everyone can attain perfection.

With the four of us together a lot, we've started frequenting Taco Bell. It's almost embarrassing because the workers there are starting to recognize us, especially since we go _every_ Friday. I need to be careful because I think I've gained some weight from going each week.

Right now, I'm currently in my room and sitting at my desk. I've been studying for the past hour or so; I'm in need of a break or some distraction. We're about halfway through May now and the workload has picked up immensely. I'm even considering letting the gang come over to study every once in a while.

Then again, do Sasha and Connie ever study? I know Marco does because he's the biggest and dorkiest honor student on the planet. Yeah, right up there with Armin.

Nerds.

Oh, and will you look at that, Marco just texted me. What the hell does he want?

** hey jeannie did u start the math homework yet?**

Yeah, he still calls me Jeannie. He messes up with that a lot and I constantly would have to correct him. He apologized every time and after a while it just got too troublesome to keep yelling at him. So I let him call me that.

** ya i just finished**

** oh good! think u can help me out? :))))**

Ugh. Look at that gross smiley face.

I go through my phone and find his name to call him. Too much shit to explain over texting.

After two rings he picks up.

We end up talking about everything _but_ our homework.

School is hell. Homework is hell. I don't even want to be in school today. Especially because a certain bubbly brunette and bald boy won't leave me alone.

Connie and Sasha still find it to be their life goal to embarrass the hell out of Marco and I. Well, mainly him. They know better than to get on my bad side. Hell, even Marco quickly learned not to piss me off. He's a smart one.

It's even worse when Marco decides he wants to walk me from my art class back to our classroom. Connie and Sasha can't get enough of that shit.

"You know my art class is completely out of your way, right?" I nudge him playfully with my elbow. He laughs it off and glances down to me.

"I really don't mind. I mean, we're heading to the same place, yeah?" Yeah, I guess. It's still kind of weird getting used to all this attention.

"S-So you're in art class? What exactly do you do?"

I look around and pretend I'm thinking hard. "Hmm, well despite it being called 'art class', we've been solving mathematical equations." I know, I'm a sarcastic little shit. But he walked himself right into that one. Marco sighs but puts a smile on his face, although I don't believe it to be a true smile.

"You didn't have to say it like that. I was just curious is all." Fuck. Fucking fuck.

I actually feel bad. "Sorry..." I'm not sure if he can even hear my apology; I barely got it out. We walk in silence the rest of the way to class. I glance around a bit as we walk, feeling pretty uncomfortable. I never paid much attention before because I would rush back to class but it's really loud in here. A lot of students just stand around the main foyer, chatting with each other.

I wouldn't care so much about their lives if it weren't for the fact that they fucking stand in the middle of where you need to walk. And it doesn't matter what you do to get their attention; they won't move. I weave my way past the students and knock into some of them by accident. I don't apologize, though. They don't need to stand in my way.

I look to my left and realize Marco isn't next to me anymore. I stop walking and look behind me to see the poor boy politely weaving through everyone. He looks absolutely uncomfortable and I can't help but laugh. I walk back a few feet to retrieve my freckled friend. Marco gives me a questioning look when I grab onto his arm and lead him back to the classroom.

Of course I don't realize I'm still holding onto his arm until Sasha points it out for the entire class to hear. Both Marco and I blush and I throw his arm down and stomp to my desk. He returns to his side of the classroom to sit with Armin today. That bastard left me all alone with these two. He will pay for this.

"Hey, how come Marco isn't sitting with us?" Connie asks, stuffing a sandwich in his face. I turn around in my chair to look him straight in the eye.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you keep teasing him. He might eventually leave our little gang of you keep that up." I'm not sure why I sounded a little sad saying that. Probably because if he left, there goes the only source of _normal_ human interaction I'd get.

I see the gears turning as Connie thinks about this little predicament. "But wait, he's an official member of the group. Actually, he's a permanent member of the 'Springles' gang, so he's not allowed to leave."

"Springles?" What in the actual fuck.

"Yeah! You know, like, Pringles? Just add Connie's last name to it and you get 'Springles'! I thought of it myself!" Sasha points excitedly to herself. Of course she'd make up something stupid like that.

However, something Connie said has my attention. Permanent member? And Marco isn't allowed to leave?

"Okay, so what the fuck do you mean by he can't leave the group?"

Connie puts his sandwich down and clears his throat. "Once a part of Springles, always a part of Springles." He gives me a smirk. I'm glad Historia is not sitting in her normal seat today; she's been spared from the stupidity.

"Remember, Jeanne, you're here forever." Sasha says to me innocently.

Never in my life have I felt fear to this degree.

"I'm going to trip the both of you in gym today."

Both Sasha and Connie give me a horrified look and I turn back to face the front of the room. They give me peace as I eat my lunch.

After school, Marco offers to walk me home. Sure, why not? It's a short walk and some company wouldn't be too bad. Besides, I've got some more questions for him. I haven't forgotten how much he avoided explaining why the school let him in so late. That's really weird.

We're quiet at first but I'm trying to think up a way to ask him. I have to get it right so I won't sound like a dumbass. In this case, I don't think blurting out the question would be too beneficial.

I glance over to my left and see Marco taking in the sights, looking at everything and anything. My eyes start to wander around as well. The main road is busy with the usual three o'clock traffic. I feel bad for these people sometimes since everything I need is within walking distance. My mother doesn't even own a car! We just walk everywhere.

One car catches my eye. Oh my god, is it gorgeous. It's a vibrant red and completely stands out from the rest of boring old cars that range from dull beige to black. I know I'm staring hard but I can't help it. This car is amazing; even the engine sounds great. I definitely want a car like this when I live in Sina. Ahh, that would be wonderful.

Marco starts whistling a small tune as we walk. And it...sounds kind of sad. Shit, I forgot I'm supposed to be interrogating him. No time to think about dream sports cars.

"Hey you." I smack his arm. He jumps slightly and gives me his undivided attention. "So tell me exactly how they let you into Trost secondary so late."

Amazing. That wasn't a question, Jeanne; that was a fucking demand.

Marco looks around at everything but me, sweating bullets. "I-I told you, they just let me fill that one thing out."

"Okay but what was that _thing_?" I hope I'm not sounding too aggressive but I'm really fucking curious.

Marco's hand makes its way up to his neck, for his trademark quirk. He's still not looking at me. I almost start feeling really shitty because he's starting to look really uncomfortable. Did he kill someone to get in? Is he actually rich and bribed them to get in? Is he really a teen?

Okay, wow Jeanne, way to let your mind wander.

I squint at Marco suspiciously. "Wait, didn't you say once that it was your name that helped you?"

"Jeanne, just drop it." His tone is so harsh and final that I wince at the sound. Well, I've obviously overstepped some boundaries. Great, he might hold this against me now. I offer a quick glance but he doesn't return it. In fact, he's looking down at the ground with an unreadable expression. His brows are furrowed and his dark brown eyes look even darker.

Fuck, why am I paying so much attention to his face? I mean, he doesn't look too angry? In fact, he looks a little sad.

I fucked up. I need to apologize big time.

I hope he likes sweets.

"H-Hey, I'm sorry. I should've...I should've kept my mouth shut."

"It's fine."

Fuck, I really did bad. His response was abrupt, like he wanted to interrupt me.

I see my mom's bakery up ahead but I keep quiet. Once we get there, he'll say his goodbyes and turn around to leave. Except, after the shit I pulled, he might just fucking leave without a word. For some reason, I don't want that.

When we're in front of the store, I grab onto his arm again. He finally looks at me and I'm glad to see he doesn't look as upset as he just did. "Come inside for a few minutes. I, uh, I got something for you. You like sweets right?"

I've never seen someone's eyes light up so fast.

He smiles and nods. "Yeah, I love them." I smile as well. I enter the store first with him right behind me. There's a few customers in line, so I won't bother my mom right away. I offer her a wave and take Marco towards the back where the stairs to the house are.

"Sit here until Mom is free."

"But Jeannie, am I even allowed to be back here?"

"Oh my god, Marco. We're in a bakery, not robbing a bank. I just...wanna introduce you to my mom, but she's busy now."

Marco nods in understanding and sits quietly on the bottom steps. I stand about two feet away from him, crossing my arms and looking over at the diminishing line of customers.

Ugh, hurry up already, you nerds. It doesn't take that long to buy fucking bread. Marco looks around curiously, taking in every inch of the store. I didn't realize he hasn't been inside before; I would have invited him in earlier.

A couple of minutes pass and the customers finally leave. My mother walks over to us and Marco stands up immediately. Someone's a little too excited. He holds out his hand to my mom.

"Hello there. My name is Marco and, uh, Jeannie has been a really great friend to me since I've moved here."

I almost want to gag at his politeness. My mother shakes his hand and smiles warmly at him.

"It's very nice to meet you Marco. I'm Mrs. Kirstein. I do hope hope my little Jeanne-bo hasn't caused you any trouble at all."

My eyes go wide as she says the _other_ forbidden nickname. She just really does not care about my wellbeing or reputation. Come on, Mom, I'm trying to be cool here. You've already embarrassed me enough in front of Connie and Sasha.

Marco lets out a small laugh and rubs his nose. "No, no, she's been a really good friend to me so far. She hasn't stepped out of line yet."

_Stepped out of line yet? _Excuse you, Marco.

I guess I should go ahead and speak up now before anything else is said that could be used against me. "He's a part of my little group with Sasha and Connie so he'll be around a lot."

Mom nods in understanding. "Of course, you're welcome here anytime, Marco. Now if you don't mind, I need to tend to the store. Will you be staying around here for a while?"

Marco shakes his head. "Oh no, I don't want to impose. That and I should be getting home now. Jeanne brought me in here to meet you."

"And I kinda sorta offered him some sweets, _maman." _I knew Marco would not bring that up; he dislikes when I hand stuff out for free to him.

Mom clicks her tongue. "Jeanne-bo, you're going to run me out of business if you keep that up. But go ahead and pick what you like." She returns to her spot at the counter and starts wiping it down. I sneak behind the counter as well and grab the first pastry I find. I hope he likes cinnamon rolls. I mean, who doesn't?

I walk back over to Marco and hand him his bagged sweets and gesture to the door. As we head back out, he calls over his shoulder, thanking my mom. She offers him a wave and goes back to work. Once we're outside, I exhale deeply. I didn't realize I was holding my breath.

"Your mom seems really nice."

"Yeah? You don't live with her. Introducing my friends to her is always a production."

"I don't get what you mean. I liked her a lot."

I sigh. The poor, ignorant fool. "She loves to talk to me like I'm still five years old. It's like she purposefully forgets that I'm older now and I'm starting to make friends. She embarrasses me _all the time_."

Marco simply chuckles. I'm glad my despair amuses him. "It's okay, Jeannie. All mothers are like that; mine is no exception. She just really cares about you." Ugh, don't get all preachy with me. We stand in kind of an awkward silence for a few moments before he speaks up again. "So, uh, see you tomorrow?"

"Yup. I'll see you at the ass crack of dawn." He snorts at my comment. I have waited so long to say that properly. I can't use the same exact phrase with my mom unless I want to hear her shriek my name.

Marco walks away and heads back home and I go back inside the store. My mother is watching me like a hawk. _What did I do this time?_

"Jeanne-bo, you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

I almost trip over my feet. I give her the most scandalized look I can muster and manage to sputter out, "W-Why in the w-world would you ever say something like that?" That was low. That was low and dirty, _maman. _

"He called you 'Jeannie'. I haven't heard that name since Ere-" I hold my hand up to stop her.

"Augh! Don't ever say that name around me, _oh my god."_

"Jeanne, honestly, it's just a n-"

"Nope! Stop right there!"

"Jeanne, stop it. You're acting like a child right now." She looks a little miffed. I sigh in defeat and look her straight in the eye.

"Marco is not my boyfriend. He will never _ever _be my boyfriend. Don't worry about it."

She taps her fingers on the counter a few times, contemplating my words. Oh god, that look. I don't like that look because I can't even tell what she's thinking. I brace for impact.

"You know I worry about you, Jeanne. And as your mother, it is my duty to worry about your education and safety. Going to Trost is a big deal for you." I think you mean it's a big deal for you.

"Yes, _maman_, I know that." I pray to every deity that this conversation doesn't go in a _certain _direction.

"And I swear, Jeanne-bo, if you were to ever get pregnant I just...I don't know what I would do. That would be such a stupid mistake and you can't ruin your life like that. Wait until you're thirty and then, _maybe_, I'll allow it."

_It fucking went in that direction!_

"Oh my god, Mom. I'm going upstairs." I walk past the counter and rush up the stairs before she has a chance to continue this absolutely unnecessary conversation.

She does this constantly. She's always so goddamn worried that I'll do something stupid and "ruin myself." Mom claims she's being the concerned parent but honestly, it makes me feel like she doesn't fucking trust me. Besides, doesn't she know how hard it is to date these days? No one is good enough for me.

It also makes me feel like...if something were to happen that she'd drop me completely. Disown me and turn her head. I hate thinking like that and maybe I'm overthinking it. Dammit, I don't want to think about this, it's bumming me out.

Maybe I'll just watch TV in the living room for a while. Unwind and watch some completely mindless reality shows. Or cartoons.

_Fuck, why did I say __"__reality shows.__" _I'm turning into my mom.

Nothing amazing ever happens in Pixis' history class. He either gives us a boring lecture with some notes on the board or he sits at the teacher's desk and reminisces about his old war days. Most students just take a nap in this class anyway; I think Pixis really does not care. His motto is "I'm just here to give you the material."

Surprisingly I'm able to stay awake today. That must've been from the adequate sleep I managed to get last night. The one time I actually _want _to be asleep in Pixis' class for fuck's sake. As I sulk at my desk, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Who in the fuck is texting me now?

I pull my phone out and set it onto my lap. It's Marco? The fuck, I just glanced over to him and I didn't seem with his phone. Unless he's a crafty motherfucker and I didn't know it. I unlock it and check what was so important he couldn't wait until later to say.

** pffft erens asleep right in front of us u should look! armins trying hard not to laugh**

I sneak a peek over to Eren and sure enough, the bastard is knocked out for the day. Oh my god, even better, he's drooling _all over _his notes! Ha ha!

** i hope none of u will share ur shit with him let him suffer**

** aww no that would be too mean**

** wtf says the guy pointing out erens embarrassing moments to his archnemesis**

I turn to smirk at Marco and he meets my gaze, smiling wide. I quickly send him another text while he's distracted by me.

** u kno ur not much of an honor student **

** texting in class, for shame**

** heyy i…ok I know but this class is a little boring**

** the truth revealed….marco is not a perfect student**

** what!? armin is texting too!**

** omg u have taken the smartest kid in the class down with ur delinquent ways**

** the world order has shifted and chaos will now reign among us**

** omg jeannie ur being soooo dramatic :)**

** yea but u laughed like a nerd so….?**

I can hear Marco trying to stifle his laughter as he shows Armin what we just texted. Both of them cover their mouths in fear of catching Pixis' attention, which we've learned is very difficult to do. An idea comes to mind and wow, I can't believe it did. I hurry back down to my phone.

** heyy since you're on the road to being a bad student…wanna skip 4****th ****period and hang out with me?**

Marco drops his phone on the ground after he gets my text. Oh shit, and I think he has an iPhone; I hope it didn't land on the screen. I look to my left and see him scrambling for his phone and dusting it off carefully, inspecting it for any damage. It must be safe because he lets out a relieved sigh. I check on our teacher to find him droning on about this one war he participated in and he actually won. Good, so Marco is still safe.

** jeannie we cant do that!**

** pssshh yea we can. I didn't say to leave the school I mean like…we just stay in this classroom**

** we could always pretend to study in case a teacher comes in but I doubt anyone would**

He takes his sweet ass time replying back.

** okay…**

Excellent! I wasn't feeling art today anyway.

It's June. Hot ass, muggy ass June. I hate it. And especially since Trost is just an hour away from the ocean, the weather here gets crazy humid. This normally starts in May but by June it's insane.

And I really dislike wearing shorts unless it's absolutely necessary. I mainly wear my jeans and capris. That's it. No one in the world deserves to be blinded by the whiteness that is my legs.

Never mind the fact that we wear shorts in gym. They're at least really long and go to our knees. They're decent enough.

I'm talking about the shit that the other girls wear, especially fucking Sasha. Doesn't she know they crank the air conditioning up in the school? Can't she tell how cold it is? Does she even feel cold?

I'm shivering just thinking about how cold that school is going to be when I get to it. God, even the mornings are humid. I hate this place. I hate Trost.

I enter the school and I'm assaulted by the freezing cold air within. This is bullshit. I cross my arms in a poor attempt to retain what little heat that's left in my body. Standing outside in the heat is almost preferable to this. I vote that we have class outside.

Halfway down the foyer, I'm greeted with an interesting sight. Eren is standing next to Marco and talking to him. Okay, I know Marco is always the "good guy" but seeing this doesn't sit well with me. I stride over to their direction to see what's going on. They both laugh and Marco must've seen me in the corner of his eye because he jumps and gestures for Eren to stop talking.

Okay, that doesn't seem right. I sure as hell hope they weren't talking about me. Marco offers me a smile and Eren looks at me indifferently. I see you, Jäger.

I don't take my eyes off of Eren as I grab Marco's arm and lead him away from the beast. Instead of taking Marco down the hallway to our classroom, because I know Eren will walk by any minute, I take him to a more secluded one. I'm still holding on to his arm as I drill him with questions.

"What the hell was that about? Are you siding with the enemy now, Marco?"

He looks completely confused. "W-What? I was just asking him about classwork. How am I an enemy?"

"Because you know Jäger is always up to no good. He can't be trusted." I squint my eyes at him. "You're a suspicious character."

"I still don't understand. He's actually really nice, Jeanne. Why do you dislike him so much? He only ever talks well about you." Marco clamps his mouth shut.

So Eren has been talking about me! I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

"So what is it, Marco? Are you Team Jäger or Team Kirstein? I need answers here so I can tell Sasha that we might lose a member of Springles soon. Did I really just say our stupid, unofficial group name. Those two just keep rubbing off on me.

Wait. An idea just came to my head. What if Marco was telling Eren why he came to Trost so late and he saw me and had to stop because he doesn't want to tell me. That bastard. But wait...would Marco really do something like that to me?

"So really, why do you dislike Eren so much?" he asks again. I sigh and look up at him; my grip on his arm has tightened.

"I'm not talking about it." He doesn't need to know how badly I embarrassed myself that day. No. Never. "Just know that he did something awful to me."

Well this conversation didn't go anywhere. I actually feel even worse than I did five minutes ago. I'm trying to think of something, _anything_ to say to make this less awkward. I'm too paranoid and nosy about Marco's business. _But I genuinely want to know!_

He and I end up just staring at each other for a few moments. He doesn't look angry but he looks a little uncomfortable. I almost wish Connie and Sasha would appear and mock us. Someone, I don't care if they say we're dating, just come by.

"I think we should probably get to class." Marco finally speaks up. Thank god.

"Uh, yeah okay."

I don't let go of his arm as we head to class.

Art class ends and Marco is nowhere to be seen. What kind of class escort is he? He never fails to show up to walk me back to lunch. I wonder if I really made him upset. I think he'll denounce our friendship.

That legitimately scares me.

Marco's one of those weird people who show up in your life one day and you feel like you've known him forever. And being apart is strange and uncomfortable. I mean, I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't miss Connie or Sasha if they dumped me on the spot. But Marco is different...

Goddammit, how does Marco not showing up make me feel hurt. If they all reject me, then it's fine. It's really fine. I've dealt with worse. I'll just move on, get good grades, get an amazing job and be a rich little shit. Who needs anyone if you're at the top? They'll just bring you down.

Okay, I need to stop before I rile myself up.

Oh my god, Marco where the fuck are you? Seriously, the bell is about to ring again and everyone's already out of the art class. You know what, whatever. I'm just going to head back myself. I don't have time for this nonsense.

The halls are much clearer now, so I don't have to worry about bumping into the gross bodies of other students. I get back to class to see that Connie not only has taken my seat, but also is getting crumbs and shit all over my desk. Neither he nor Sasha have noticed me yet, so I take the opportunity and slam my hands on the desk.

Connie jumps so high and nearly falls out the seat. Oh god, that's amazing. Everyone in the class has glanced over at the commotion but I don't care; he had it coming, dammit!

As I'm on the floor laughing, Sasha leans over the desk to scold me. "Jeanne, that was awful. He could've choked!"

"Yeah, I could've died!"

"Oh shut up, Connie, you're fine." I manage between the residing giggles from my laughing fit. "Now get the hell out of my seat, you little spaz."

He cross his arms and keeps his ass firmly planted in my seat. "Nuh uh! I was here first so tough luck."

Before I have the chance to yell back, Marco enters the room behind me and sighs.

"I knew I heard your voice from down the hall."

I jump slightly at his sudden arrival and Connie snickers.

"Marco to the rescue! Jeanne was being awful to Connie." Sasha mumbles as she chews on her food. Gross. Marco walks around to get the two remaining seats in the class and puts them in front of mine and Sasha's table. I flop onto the one in front of Sasha and Marco takes the one in front of Connie.

Marco scratches the back of his head and faces me. "Sorry for not meeting up with you earlier."

I shrug and Sasha looks questioningly at Marco. "Oh? Did you not walk Jeanne back here? Where were you?"

Before Marco can utter out a reply, I slap my hand on his shoulder and lean closer to him, still facing Sasha. "Our Marco here is a super secret spy for the government. Watch out, because he knows every stupid thing the two of you have done."

I've never seen Marco look so done in my life. Regardless of my shit, he still manages to smile at the two. "Well, she got me. I'm actually a thirty five year-old cop posing as a teenager to weed out the delinquents. Like Jeanne over here." He points to me.

Bastard!

He holds his hands up and talks again. "Now if you'd like the truth, my class just ended late so by the time I was out, you were already gone." He turns to look at me and holy shit, I didn't realize that I'm actually much closer to him than I had thought. But I don't move. Why aren't we moving?

Wait, is there a freckle on his eyelid? Is that even possible? I should research the genetics behind freckles and get to the bottom of this. Connie clears his throat which attracts both mine and Marco's attention.

"Okay, so like, I'm eating right now and I really don't want to see this romance bullshit in my face."

Now is when I blush hard. And my face must be really fucking red too. I push away from Marco and scoot my chair to the side a little bit so mistakes like that won't happen again. Marco does the almost the same as me except he keeps his chair in its place. He takes his lunch out of his bag and, just to be funny, I push it off the desk as soon as he places it down.

He lets out a surprised squeak. Yes, squeak. The boy just squeaked. He turns to me with the saddest expression he can muster and I just grin at him. This is what he gets for leaving me in front of the art room.

I'm the best friend anyone ever had, goddammit.

Shit. It's my turn again for cleaning duty. Or _cleaning hell_ as it's called by the class. And lo and behold guess who my partner is.

It's Marco.

Okay, to be fair, Marco isn't the _worst_ choice for this sort of thing. The last time I was a part of cleaning hell, Connie was my partner. Levi was so livid with us and it was a disaster. Just thinking about it now sends shivers down my spine. I don't think Levi ever looked at us the same way after that experience.

I can tell just by the glare the old man is giving me. I'd normally retaliate with a look of my own but every voice in my head is screaming against that decision. So instead I try to avoid eye contact with him as much as possible.

Marco and I start the cleaning process by picking up the chairs and putting the flat parts onto the tables. Marco gets done with his half of the room first and walks over to help me. Yes, I know I'm lazy and I really don't want to be wasting my time with this nonsense. I glance back at Levi real quick to see him reclining in the chair at the teacher's desk, just staring at us. I think I've finally found the reason as to why his class is the last one for the day. Because he's the _pickiest_ neat freak in the world. Why doesn't he just get up and clean the room himself? I mean, he goes back over our work anyway.

I take the broom and start sweeping under the desks in the front and Marco works in the back. As I grumble about cleaning and every other problem I have in the world, a knock can be heard on our classroom door. Both Marco and I look up immediately while Levi just slightly turns to his left. He scowls upon seeing the visitor.

"What is it, Erwin?"

Erwin? As in, Erwin Smith? The principal?

_Holy shit._

He steps quietly into the class room and stands in front of the door. Okay, I've heard rumors about this man, but seeing him in the flesh is a whole different experience. He's tall, not Mike tall, but still up there. His blond hair is perfectly parted on the left and slicked back. Even his dark, navy blue suit fits so well against his sturdy body. This man is the epitome of a Greek god; I didn't know creatures like him existed.

_Fuck, even his eyebrows are on point. And I really don__'__t care for huge eyebrows!_

Erwin offers us a smile and I swear I just saw a tinkle in those steel blue eyes of his.

"Good afternoon, students. I hope your classes were insightful and challenging today." He shifts his glance towards Levi. "I also hope that he hasn't given you too much trouble during the semester so far."

Marco and I can only shake our heads.

"Now, Levi, I need to speak with you in my office. Do you have fifteen minutes?"

Levi growls but stands up from his chair anyway. "This better be important, Erwin. I need to make sure these brats don't skip out on cleaning." He gestures to us.

"There's something…I need _you_ to take care of. It's urgent."

Levi walks to him, never taking his eyes off of Erwin's. Before they exit the room finally, Levi turns on us immediately.

"If I come back here and find you two fucking on the desk, I'll make sure that's the last time you ever do. Understood? And don't you dare think of leaving until I've checked the entire room."

"Y-Yes, sir." Marco gulps.

Erwin waves his hand dismissively. "No, no. I trust that you two will do an excellent job. You may leave once you have finished your cleaning duties." He leads Levi out of the room. Marco and I don't move until we've made sure that we can't hear their footsteps anymore. Once everything is quiet, we both let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you see that man?"

"Y-Yeah. He has such a presence."

"Marco, I think I want to marry him."

"Me too."

I crack a smile and we both end up laughing out loud. Marco leans against the wall and snorts, which makes me laugh even harder. Fuck, that was cute. We start calming down some and actually get back to cleaning. I start cleaning up a little bit faster because, to be honest, I want to get out of here before Levi comes back. I have no idea what Erwin wants to discuss with him and I'm worried that it might put Levi in a foul mood. Even more so then he usually is.

What's really bugging me though is the fact that Marco isn't talking to me too much. Actually, he's not talking at all. He might still be a little upset about this morning, when I interrogated him. I should say something; I really don't like awkward silences like this.

Especially when it's my fault.

We finish sweeping the floors and I start mopping; Marco cleans the board while he waits for the floor to dry a little bit. I sigh. I'm so bad at coming up with apologies and it's not like I can keep throwing cinnamon rolls at him. I just…don't want to fuck this up.

Fuck my inability to speak in situations when I need to.

"H-Hey, Marco?"

He doesn't take his eyes away from the board. "Hmm?"

All right, I guess him not looking straight at me with those big, brown eyes of his kind of helps.

"I really want to say that, uh, I'm sorry. About earlier. You didn't deserve that and…yeah."

He speaks up and I can almost hear the smile in his voice. "You're amazing at apologies, Jeannie."

Phew, him calling me "Jeannie" is a good sign. So he's not too mad. Does he…even hold grudges though?

"Shut up, loser, or I'll take it back."

Great way to show you feel bad, Jeanne.

He chuckles warmly and turns to me. "It's all right. I accept your apology."

I chew on my lip trying to think of something else to say. He beats me to it though.

"Just…I know you must be extremely curious, hell, _everyone_ is. But all I ask is that you give me some time. I do want to tell you one day, Jeannie, but now is not a good time. I don't…really feel comfortable talking about it, okay?"

Fair enough. I still feel like shit though. "Yeah, I'll…keep quiet about it. No hard feelings right?" I look at him eagerly, hoping for a favorable response. I've stopped mopping long ago, worrying about how this was going turn out.

"Of course no hard feelings. You're…one of the best friends I've ever had, Jeanne. I'm just really proud that you can admit to your mistakes." He's smiling so wide at me. I blush from his words and look away. That's so sweet and it's something…that I haven't heard in a long time.

_I would never do this for anyone else. But Marco is different._

Sasha and Connie are good friends too, don't get me wrong. And, I'd probably never say this to their face but, I really appreciate them and the fact that they take notice of me. But their friendship feels different from the one Marco and I share. Goddammit, I'm getting sentimental again.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I'd like to get done before Levi gets back. I'm sure you want the same." Marco gestures for me to continue. Thank god, I needed a quick distraction from my inner ramblings. I nod quickly and continue mopping the rest of the room.

"Yeah…I'd like to be done before he comes back too. Otherwise we'll be here well into the night."

We finish about ten minutes later and run out of the class room before Levi has a chance to return. I take Marco's hand in mine and lead him down the hall quickly. We poke our heads around the corner just to make sure Levi's not walking by. If he's around here then he'll make us go back. Giggling like fools, we sprint across the foyer of the school, gaining a few curious looks from the remaining students.

Whatever, fuck them. They don't understand our triumphant victory. We escaped the big, bad Levi and lived to tell the tale.

We escape the school, hand in hand, and slow down to a more normal pace. I don't like running if I don't have to. Marco walks me home as usual and I don't know how to explain it, but everything feels fine. Something about this feels completely normal.

His hand is really nice and warm. It's almost comforting.

When we reach my mom's store, I almost forget to take my hand off of his. We both kind of blush awkwardly but I look at him seriously.

"Hey, since exams are coming up in a few weeks, do you think we should have group study sessions? Like, even today would be fine?"

Marco nods quickly. "Uh, yeah, sure. That would be great. I'll text Sasha and Connie now." He points to the door. "Shall we go in?" He smiles to me.

I nod and we head inside. I inform my mother that we're going to hold a study group with the other two friends and she, of course, has no problem with it. Just throw "school" or "studying" into the mix and she's all for it. Marco and I head upstairs and settle down in the living room. He does the deed of texting the others and I throw myself onto the couch. Ah, it feels nice to sit on my ass after that rigorous cleaning job. I hate cleaning days.

Marco takes a seat next to me and smiles. "They said they'd be over in ten minutes." I take a deep breath.

"All right, then. Ten minutes to mentally prepare ourselves for their silliness." Marco laughs and relaxes as well. Today has been an interesting day to say the least. Especially since I'm feeling so…happy? Giddy? I don't know but, hell, I could get used to this. It's better than my normal, cynical self.

We're quiet. A little too quiet. Fuck, it's getting weird again. I need to say something. And I know just the thing.

"Hey, Marco?"

"Hm?"

"Okay, I know this will sound extremely weird, but just hear me out. I was wondering…if we could hold hands again."

Marco does a double take and just stares at me, blushing furiously. "W-What…?"

"Ugh, you heard me. Your hands are really warm and I dunno, kind of comforting." You fucking idiot, you're making this much worse than it needs to be. Do you understand how difficult this is to ask?

"U-Uh, o-okay, if you w-want but…friends don't normally d-do this, y'know."

I give him an annoyed look. "Look, just because we're of different genders doesn't mean we can't do certain things. For fuck's sake, Marco, we're just holding hands. It's not like we're gonna have sex." He face goes completely red at that and I resist the urge to laugh. "Besides, Sasha, Connie, and I have held hands many times. Blame Sasha when you see her, because I got this habit from her."

I reach my left hand out for him and he carefully takes it into his right hand. We stay sitting like this until the other two make their grand appearance.

I'm reluctant to let go.

Now, I said that June in Trost is pretty miserable. Let me explain to you the hell that is July. It's hotter than Satan's ass crack. Seriously, you could lose so much weight from all the sweating your body goes through in this weather and _not even know_. It's humid all throughout the day; the air is dense and just _wet_. Then add that to the fact we live in an urban area, so the heat coming off of the asphalt roads makes it seem hotter. And sadly, we still have school in July; however it's only for a few weeks, and then we'll finally be released for summer break. I'm so happy. I'm going to sit in bed in the nice air conditioning all summer.

I'm not doing shit.

Although I think Sasha has other plans for me. The whole first week of July, which conveniently started on a Tuesday, she has not shut her mouth about summer activities and fun. Now, some of it actually sounds pretty cool but _there are so many things_.

"Ah! I got it! We should go to the beach this weekend!"

I look up at her curiously. "Why this weekend? Why not wait until the actual break?"

"Because, _Jeanne_, everyone will be heading to the beach when school's over. This way we can beat all the crowds."

That's just about the smartest idea she's had yet. It's true that beach just north of Trost is really popular and we get an insane amount of tourists in the summertime. Fuck, that's a brilliant idea.

But then I remember how pale I am. I am going to burn so bad.

"Do you want to go, Jeanne? Connie said he's already on board and we just need to ask Marco."

Oh shit, Marco. He's going to be there, in swim trunks, and no shirt. If his other half looks as good as his legs then I don't know what I'm going to do.

Sasha gently puts her hand on my shoulder and smiles. "Oh, you're blushing kind of hard, are you all right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm amazing."

"Were you thinking about Marco?" She coos, and draws out the last syllable in his name.

"What? No, fuck you. I was just…feeling a little embarrassed, that's all."

"Aww, Jeanne, don't worry. No one will make fun of you! And if they do, you and I can beat them up, okay?"

Good save there. I honestly don't know what the fuck went through my mind. I sigh at the upcoming conversation with Marco. Apparently, Sasha wants to tackle him on our way to lunch. I'm not going to warn him.

She did it. I can't believe she actually fucking did it. While Marco and I were innocently walking back to class for lunch, Sasha rounded the corner and leapt onto his back. Marco lets out a yelp but manages to keeps his balance.

As for me? I fucking laugh my ass off. That shit was too amazing and hilarious. I fall to the ground trying to recover and make the mistake of looking back at Marco. He has a mix of both betrayal and fear on his face. This makes me laugh harder.

"Hi, Marco!" Sasha squeals in delight.

"H-Hey, Sasha. W-What are you doing?" he says in between breaths, trying to recover.

"Jeanne and I have a question for you." At this point, I decide to get off of the floor and try to pry Sasha off of him. She detaches her limbs from around him and hops off safely.

Marco brushes himself off and listens intently. "What's up?"

"We're all planning a get together at the beach this Saturday. Would you like to join us?"

I try not to look too hopefully over at Marco. His face drops from a smile to an indiscernible frown. Fuck, I don't like that.

"S-Sorry but…Saturday is my dad's birthday. I can't go." He looks at the ground and shuffles his feet a little bit. I feel my stomach drop at his words. No, I want him to go. I don't give a fuck if I'm being selfish.

Sasha looks disappointed as well, but not the same way as I am. "Oh, that's too bad."

"B-But please, don't let my plans ruin yours. You guys can go without me and I-I'll tag along the next time, yeah?" Marco doesn't look Sasha directly in the eye as he says that. In fact, that smile he's giving her is so forced. Something's wrong.

Sasha nods in understanding and says that we'll miss him this weekend. The plan is still in motion, it seems. She turns to me and asks for my opinion and I just shrug and utter an affirmative response. I really don't want to talk right now. I feel so…blah, knowing he won't be there.

I haven't felt this level of disappointment in years.

The only downside to not owning a car is now that we have to walk to the beach. Sasha's aunt is the only one in the group to own a car but she's at work right now, although she did promise to pick us up afterwards, so thankfully we won't have to trudge back home all sunburnt and exhausted.

But that means a one hour walk with Connie and Sasha.

A one hour walk in this unforgiving heat. It's only ten in the morning but it feels like death. It's only going to get worse from here.

It's a good thing I only packed a really small bag for the beach. Just a simple change of clothes, a towel, and some sunscreen. Sasha and Connie are lugging things like their essentials and a numerous amount of snacks and drinks. Connie has been elected as official "cooler-bearer" so at least he's dealing with the bulkiest item.

Sasha is completely ready to just jump in the water as soon as we get there. All she's wearing is her bright orange bikini top, her shorts, and flip flops. Connie actually has a shirt and he's just wearing his swim trunks as shorts. I'm more dressed than any of them. I've got a grey T-shirt on, some jeans, a straw hat, and sunglasses. I need to protect my fair skin as much as possible. The sunburn will happen, regardless if I want it or not, so the best thing to do is to lessen my exposure. I don't need those fuckers in school calling me a tomato.

While Sasha and Connie banter about all the things they're going to do once we get to the beach, I reach into my pocket for my phone to text Marco. He said it's his dad's birthday today right? Maybe I should be nice and send him a message.

** heyyy tell ur dad i said happy bday!**

I decide against using those obnoxious smiley faces that Marco is so fond of and send the message. I hope this is a good thing to do because I've never told someone's parent this before. Is this weird?

Okay fuck, I need to stop because I know where inner monologues lead me while I'm walking. A first class ticket to the concrete below. I'm not in the mood to ruin my face, because it's looking great right now. Too bad Marco can't see it; all this effort has been wasted for these two losers.

The hour walk has passed and we're finally at our destination. Of course, no beach is ever empty at all, especially Trost beach, but there really aren't that many people out here. We see a few colorful umbrellas lined up towards the shore and take in the smell of sea salt. I smile slightly when we arrive but that quickly turns back to a frown.

I don't mind being at the beach and I really don't mind swimming but…it just seems so boring now. Marco's really missing out, but I guess he had an acceptable excuse.

Sasha practically runs out ahead of us towards the water, screaming, "We're at the beach!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Wait up, I've got all this shit to carry, yo!" Connie turns to me. "You've been here before, yeah? Are there any places you can recommend to unpack?"

I tilt my head back to think. "Uhhh, there's this one little area almost everyone avoids that I really like." I scan the entire beach before setting my eyes to our left. "Ah, there it is! Do you see that little rocky area over there?"

Connie squints and puts his hands over his eyes, to block out the sun. "Yeah, I think I see it. Are you sure that's a good place to go?"

I nod quickly. "Of course. Those rocks look huge and really uncomfortable but they're actually blocking the view of a small little area. No one goes there because the rocks throw them off."

Connie whistles for Sasha and we point her to the left where the rocks are. She gives us a look of confusion but Connie holds his thumb up, saying it's something good. We trudge along the sand, far away from the other beach goers. We get to the rock formation and I gesture for the two to go around it. Sure enough, the small section I mentioned is still there and unoccupied. I also picked this spot because of the shade the rocks offer. I can protect my white-ass skin from the sun's harmful rays.

Connie and Sasha set their towels down onto the sand and basically rip off their excess clothes and run straight into the water. Unlike them, I take my time setting up and remove my clothes carefully. I don't them to get all sandy and shit, what the fuck. Yes, I understand that I am at the beach and there's sand literally everywhere, but I still must take precautions. Despite covering up immensely, my swimwear consists of just a plain black bikini top and bottom. No green this time, so sorry about that. I take out my bottle of sunscreen and realize that neither of them put any on before they catapulted themselves into the water.

"Hey, you two, you should definitely put some of this on, otherwise you're going to get extremely sunburnt," I call out to them, interrupting their splashing game.

"Aww, Jeanne, don't be such a damn buzzkill, we'll be fine!" Connie shouts back to me.

I throw my hands up in the air. "All right, fine! Get burnt! See if I care when you two come back to school looking like a pair of fools."

They ignore me and continue to play in the water. I shrug and squeeze the liquid out of the bottle onto my arms and start spreading it all over my body. Once I'm completely covered in the thick sunscreen, I take my phone out of my bag to check it. Nothing. No text from Marco. I guess it must be a really good party if he's not answering because normally he'd be all over his phone when I text him.

This doesn't help me feel any better. I'm trying to have fun with the other two but it's not the same. They're fun, but they're not Marco fun, if that even makes sense. I'm still really sour about him not showing up.

With nothing left to do, I head out into the water and join the two maniacs in their splashing games.

We end up staying in the water for _hours_. It's surprising at how much time actually passes when you're splashing around in salt water. I drag the two aquatic creatures out of the water and the pressure of the world hits us again; we've lost our feeling of weightlessness we had while swimming. I flop down onto my towel and take deep breaths. Sasha rummages through her bags and pulls out our lunches and some snacks.

The menu for today consists of beautifully prepared sandwiches and chips. Good. Sasha offered to make the sandwiches and Connie jumped in saying he'd provide the chips. When he said that, he actually meant that he was going to steal them from his mates in his dorm.

As for me, I didn't bring shit.

Eating food is the only time Sasha and Connie are quiet and I revel in the silence. I'm really not in the mood to talk, so I quietly munch on my food as well. This little get together isn't all that exciting to be honest. The best part so far was when seaweed wrapped around Sasha's leg and she _freaked the fuck out_. It was amazing.

I wish Marco could have seen it.

After our meal, I have to remind my little losers not to go swimming right away unless they want to get a nasty cramp. So we opt for building sand castles. I'll have to admit, I've never done this before so for the first few tries I fuck up really bad. I can't seem to get the sand to stay up properly. Sasha helps me out and points out that I'm not using wet enough sand. Well I feel fucking stupid, but Sasha spares me and doesn't make fun of me.

We also learn that Connie has an affinity for sculpture because his sand castle is absolutely stunning. _And he built it by himself!_ I look the one Sasha helped me build and it's mediocre at best but Sasha just laughs. Connie stands up triumphantly and puts his hands on his hips.

I lean over to Sasha. "I think you should "accidentally" trip on his castle. What do you say?" She smirks and nods quickly. We both get up slowly and stalk over to Connie's wonderful pile of sand. I distract him by asking for his techniques while Sasha _actually_ trips and lands face first into his sandy sculpture. He whips around immediately and I fall to my knees not even trying to hold in my laughter.

Sasha lifts herself up and laughs while wiping sand off of her face. Connie is holding his head in agony at the destruction of his masterpiece. As a peace offering, we let him destroy ours. We laugh it off for a few minutes and decide again to head into the water to wash all this sand off.

I forget to put on my sunscreen.

Sasha's aunt calls us around six in the evening to tell us she's on the way to pick us up. We repack and gather our things together slowly. There's a few changing booths back on the main part of the beach so we hurry there to dry off and change into our dry clothes. I just throw on what I wore to the beach originally and head back out to meet everyone out on the boardwalk.

Her aunt pulls up in a fairly old Jeep. This thing looks like it has seen better days and I'm very reluctant to step inside. Before I can decide if I really want to walk, Sasha gestures me to get in. I do so begrudgingly.

The car ride is much quicker than the initial walk, taking only about fifteen minutes. Sasha converses with her aunt while Connie watches all the things we pass by on the road. I pull out my phone again to check my messages.

Still nothing from Marco. That's extremely disappointing.

I'm the first to be dropped off. I thank Sasha and her aunt for the ride and head inside. Showering is at the very top of my list of priorities even though I'm scared at the same time because I _know_ I was sunburnt. I manage to slip past my mother's watchful eye and hide the redness. I throw my bag into my room, grab some clothes and head into what will be known as the best and worst shower yet.

Just as I had predicted, I'm terribly sunburnt, as I find out when the water spraying on me gives me excruciating pain on my shoulders. _Fuck!_ I don't need this. Sleeping for the next few nights will be hell. I hope Mom still has aloe somewhere…

I lazily trudge back into my room and fall onto my bed. Ahh, it feels so soft and comfortable. I also put on my softest pair of sweat pants and a thin black tank top. Despite the throbbing pain and heat of the sunburn, this feels really nice. I stay on my stomach for a long time until I hear my phone go off.

_A text message!_

Oh dear god, I'm praying that it's from Marco, but I know with my luck, it will probably be from Sasha. Regardless, I dig through my bag and retrieve my phone.

It's Marco!

I smile so wide and I swear my heart skips a beat. I unlock the phone and go to his name.

** ...thanks that really means a lot to us**

** im glad**

I bit my lip and hope he answers back. In just a few minutes, I get a reply. He must have his phone back.

** ur a kind person jeannie****…****i really like u**

_Excuse me?_ Where the fuck did that come from, holy shit. I just told your dad to have a happy birthday; I didn't do anything special. I set the phone next to me and just lay in bed blushing hard. Actually, I'm going to blame this on the sunburn. I'm not blushing.

And I certainly am going to blame the sunburn on my rapidly beating heart.

Yeah, my mind isn't in its normal place right now. It must've been from all the sun I was exposed to today. It's got me thinking of Marco in a different way.

Fuck, where is that aloe?


	4. OK Pal

"I don't ever want to see another test again. As a matter of fact, I never want to see another piece of paper or pencil in front of me ever again…" Sasha groans, sprawled all over my floor and playing with Josephine. My fat, little calico is lying on her back, swatting playfully at Sasha's hand whenever it gets too close. Heh, I'm surprised she hasn't tired herself out yet.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Sasha, but those were only our first set of exams," I blurt out, feeling the effects of the exams on my brain. I'm relieved that they are over, but at what cost? My brain feels like mush; _I_ feel like mush. I'm just a pile of sentient mush sprawled all over this couch. Connie is somewhere; I honestly forgot where he went because my brain just cannot function properly at the moment. Marco is hanging around the couch near me. He seems like the only one of us who has kept some form of intelligence.

Our exams were split into two days because of how long they were, with our last set being today. Somehow, we managed to survive. I'd throw my arm in the air in triumph, but I'm too busy being sentient mush.

But then again…these weren't even the final exams. Yup, I'm definitely not throwing my arm in the air. My thoughts are interrupted as Sasha lets out a distressed squeal. I turn over again and see that Josephine has stepped onto Sasha's stomach and is kneading her paws on her. Sasha doesn't make any attempt to move but she just groans at the weight of the cat on top of her.

"Jeanne…your cat is murdering me. Send help."

"Nah."

She lets out a small whine as my fat cat settles herself down on her stomach. I know the feel, Sasha. Rest in peace; you were a good friend. Josephine takes the chance to stare at me from Sasha's belly and meows at me. I really don't fucking understand this cat.

Connie returns to the living room and flops onto the floor close to Sasha. I eye him curiously and he meets my gaze.

"Where the fuck were you?"

"Bathroom, yo. Can't a guy go without an interrogation?"

"That's gross."

I hear his stomach grumble from all the way over here. As if on cue, Sasha's grumbles as well. These two are going to be the death of me with their constant hunger. Marco simply giggles at the chorus of empty stomachs. That's the first noise he's made all afternoon. Good to know he's alive.

"Ugh, I'm hungryyyy," Connie draws out.

"Me too," Sasha and Marco chime in.

"Maybe we should order a pizza."

"Yes, let's bring a pizza to a bakery. I'm pretty sure Mom would love that." Pizza does sound good right now, especially since I'm beginning to feel the pains of starvation as I didn't eat breakfast nor lunch today. I was more preoccupied with getting a decent grade on these exams rather than absorbing nutrition. This couch is also starting to feel uncomfortable the longer I lie on it. Why can't I have nice things?

"Well, maybe all of us could go to a pizza place; that way we're not disrupting Jeanne's mom's store," Marco offers politely. Sasha and Connie groan in protest to the mere idea of walking. I wonder if they've forgotten how to walk after today. I'm torn between the idea of just lying here for the rest of my life and actually moving and doing normal human activities. These stomach pains aren't exactly being kind to me.

In one fluid motion, I sit up quickly on the couch and keep my balance. Shit, fuck! I sat up too fast; I clutch my head, trying to rid myself of being dizzy. Marco peers curiously up to me, concern written all over his face.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fuck, I just sat up way too fast."

I shake my head and I can see clearly again. Okay good. I get off of the couch and walk about five steps towards Sasha and loom over her. Josephine gets up and stretches right on top of her and Sasha lets out another squeal of pain. My loyal cat hops down and rubs against my leg, purring like no tomorrow. Cat, seriously, I was not five feet away; you could have come and slept on my stomach. I kneel down and pet Josephine and scratch behind her ears. Such a soft kitty.

Okay shit, this is not what I came over here to do. I prod Sasha in the side roughly with my finger and she looks right at me.

"Why are you and your cat so horrible to me?"

"Miss lady here only lies on top of people she likes. Take it as a compliment. Now get up, we're going." I look over my shoulder to Connie's pathetic figure. "You too, baldy. Hurry up." I clap my hands together. Where in the world did all this energy come from?

Marco gets up from his seat on the floor as well, smiling like an idiot. He walks over to Connie and offers to help him off of the floor because Connie is _oh so exhausted_. I'm not as gentle with Sasha as I yank her arm up, causing her to hop up immediately, otherwise her arm might get twisted the wrong way. Oops.

After Marco and I have gotten the children up and standing properly, I pat myself down checking for my phone and some money. Fuck my bag; I'm not lugging that shit with me. I nod to Marco and the others and we head out of the living room, into the kitchen, and down the stairs to the bakery. I tell Mom that we're off to cause mayhem and panic and she just tells me to not get arrested.

Thanks.

Ah, yes, Trost's little pizzeria. It's a small place on the outskirts of the city, closer to the sleepy suburbs. It's a fair walk, maybe about twenty to twenty five minutes from where I live, but so worth it. Once our group settled into a booth, Sasha and Connie's enthusiasm increased tenfold and were very eager to order almost everything on the menu. That is until Papa Marco intervened and we decided on two large pizzas: one pepperoni and the other with a little bit of everything you could imagine.

Connie and Sasha are engaged in a heated conversation about which Pokémon is the best and I can just feel the righteous anger oozing from Connie as Sasha mocks his favorite. I believe this is the first time I've ever witnessed a nerd off and, to be honest, it's exciting. Marco's just as amused, it seems, because he's watching them intently and trying to stifle his laughter. I sigh quietly and cross my legs under the table and look the window to my left.

The sky is still lit with a mix of blue and orange light and doesn't look anywhere close to getting dark soon. That's the disadvantage of summer time; it takes way too long to actually get dark. I place my chin in my hand and just stare blankly outside. There's really nothing out there other than a decently packed parking lot and some trees. Like I said, it's close to the suburbs so nothing too exciting is out here.

I nearly jump out of my skin as I feel Marco's knee gently nudge my leg. I turn to him so fast you'd think my neck would snap.

Marco gives a small smile and speaks softly to me. "Are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." I look away from his dark brown eyes. Maybe chocolaty brown? Whiskey brown? Who knows these days?

Wait shit, am I really concentrating on his eyes.

He nudges my leg again and I look up to see him shift his gaze immediately to his right. Oh okay, I see what game you're playing here. I take my hand off of the table and quickly poke his knee with my finger and look back out the window. He turns his head to me and stifles his laughter. I feel myself about to burst out laughing but I bite my lip to stop it from happening. We continue this little game for a few more minutes until our pizzas finally arrive. I noticed Sasha gave me a questioning look but I tried my best to ignore her; especially since she gave me that fucking grin, trying to imply something.

Connie immediately drops his argument on how – I think he said Fearow – is the best Pokémon and gives a toothy grin upon seeing the cheesy, greasy goodness that is our food. Connie and Sasha dig into their supreme, every-topping-imaginable pizza while I settle for plain old pepperoni. Nothing wrong with something simple, right? I grab the first slice from the dish and oh god, it's so cheesy because as I lift it up, the cheese stretches and forms thin lines. I put it on my plate but it's still connected to the rest of the damn pie.

"God Jeanne, stop stealing all of the cheese; you're ruining the pizza," Connie exclaims with a mouthful.

"Jesus Christ, don't talk with your mouth full, you uncultured swine. I got this." I grab the nearest utensil next to me, which happens to be a fork, and cut the remaining cheese strings away and push them back to the pizza. Sorry Marco, you're going to have to deal with my inability to grab a slice of pizza. I glance at him, offering him a go at the food and he just smiles at me. He carefully lifts up the slice next to where mine was and brings his knife up to cut the cheese strings off. Okay, he's just showing me up now. Carefully, he places the piece onto my plate and then works on his own.

"What was that for?"

"Oh come one, Jeannie. You're telling me you can survive on only one slice?"

"Who the fuck are you, my mother now? I'll grab as much as I want." I cross my arms and pout. Honestly, I gave up after feeling so embarrassed from getting my own piece. I mean, who does that? Who gets embarrassed over cheese?

Connie and Sasha seem to have forgotten the entire cheese debacle and are contently eating away at their behemoth pizza. Marco is doing the same with his pepperoni in hand and I guess I should start eating too. I pick up the top slice with the ripped up cheese all over it and take a bite. Ahh, heavenly is the only word I can use to describe it. The sauce is a little salty but thankfully it's not overpowering and the cheese just melts in your mouth. I've forgotten how good this place actually is since Mom never brings us anywhere to eat.

As I'm enjoying this delightful meal, Sasha's wiping sauce from her mouth with her napkin and clears her throat, ready to speak. Oh boy, what's going on now? I grab a few more bites of my pizza before Connie and Marco turn their attention to Sasha as well.

"All right guys! It's the beginning of the summer vacation and dammit, I wanna make every minute of it fun!" Sasha slams her hand on the table dramatically, causing our silverware to clatter and Marco steadies his drink before it can fall to its untimely demise. I set my pizza down and grab a napkin to wipe the grease from my hands.

"So we have to spend every minute of every day together?"

"Absolutely correct!"

I shake my head. "I'm sorry but I'd like to have some days to myself."

"Ugh, Jeanne you're no fun." Sasha sticks her tongue out at me and I do the same to her. I lean back into the booth and accidentally slide down the seat. These fucking things are too goddamn smooth. Marco catches me immediately and helps me sit up like a normal person and Connie snickers. I reach my leg under the table and kick him in the shin, offering him a victorious grin as I do.

"All right, all right. Settle down you two. Let's listen to what Sasha has to say." Marco rests his hand on my thigh, just above my knee, to keep me from kicking more and doesn't move it. It's a light touch, nothing too rough or overbearing, but I'm hyperaware of it and of how warm and comforting it feels. Does he know he's doing this? Is he doing it on purpose? I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is how fast my heart is beating in my chest.

Sasha's started talking again but I'm not paying attention to a word she's saying. My attention is completely focused on Marco and how he's not even looking at me. Shit, what should I do? I should be chill with this but I don't know. I've held the guy's hand a few times, so this shouldn't be any different. Fuck, this should be comforting me but instead it's got me overthinking everything about what's going on in this situation.

"Hey, Jeannie?" Sweet Jesus, his voice came out of nowhere. I snap my eyes up to Marco, who's now giving me a concerned look with those big brown eyes of his. Yeah, definitely like chocolate. Wait...fuck!

"Y-Yeah?! What?" My voice comes out a few pitches too high. His eyebrow is arched high, just watching as I continuously make a fool out of myself. He takes his hand off of me and settles it back into his other hand. I'm disappointed from the loss of contact, especially since the place his hand was feels so cold now.

"You're looking a little red...uh, Sasha's trying to get your attention," he says in that angelic voice of his. I slowly turn to Sasha and she's got her head slightly to the side.

"The food wasn't too spicy for you, was it? I know people like you can't rea-"

"Oh shut up and say what you needed to say."

She smiles and waves her hand to the side a few times. "Well, one of the first things I thought we could do is go to the beach again since Marco missed it last time." Sasha glances over to Marco with a hopeful expression.

"Yeah, I can go this time around. Just not...on the weekends, okay?" He scratches the back of his neck and smiles sheepishly. Ah yes, that's his go-to quirk when he's feeling nervous or hiding something. I've learned before not to press into the matter, despite being so curious that it's all I've thought about on more than on occasion.

I sigh quietly. He said he'd tell me one day, maybe. I guess I'll just hold onto that sorry excuse for a promise.

"Well, that's not a problem at all, really. I'm sure the weekdays will be less crowded, so it all works," Connie chimes in after finishing his fourth slice of pizza. "Hey, Sasha, can your aunt at least pick us up again?"

Sasha nods quickly. "Mhm, as long as we can last until she gets off of work. Maybe we can hang around the boardwalk for a bit and look at the shops."

"And get some hella ice cream!" Connie smirks at Sasha. They give each other a high five and I almost want to gag at his use of the word "hella."

Sasha opens her arms up wide and points them at me. "And our good friend Jeanne over here will show us all the good spots to shop at! Right, best friend?" I roll my eyes but smile anyway. Best friend, huh?

"Yeah, yeah, sure I will." I think over her words for a moment before snapping my fingers and looking back up to her. "Hey, I bet you didn't know that there is a small little amusement park next to the boardwalk!"

I have never seen their eyes light up so much; it's almost blinding. Shit, even Marco is exceptionally excited. I guess out-of-town people really enjoy shitty Ferris wheels and carousels?

I shrug and let my arms fall limp to my sides, acting like it's nothing special, when in reality I'm glad for the attention I'm getting now. "Yeah, and it stays open pretty late during the summer months. I think even through September, because my dad, when he'd come back home on leave from duty, would always take me as a child."

Sasha squeals and bounces in her seat. "I think we'll be going there a lot over the summer break. Oh my god, Jeanne, that's so exciting! I love Trost!" I almost choke on my soda as she pitches out those words. Fuck, such bad timing on my end to grab a sip of my drink. I cough a few times and give Sasha a skeptical look as Marco helps to pat my back.

Now there's a useful friend.

"Sure, whatever you say. If you love Trost so much, why don't you just live here forever? As for me, I'm gonna get into a nice university in Sina and settle down in a nice place there!" I snort out an obnoxious laugh and the faces they make at me are priceless. "I'll come by and visit you all when I'm a famous artist, okay?" They sigh and continue on with their conversation about our summer plans. I finish laughing and look at Marco, giving him my trademark grin. He smiles back at me and goddammit, his hand is still on my back.

You touchy fucker.

I point back to his hand. "You can take that off now."

He blushes hard and moves his hand away quickly, looking away sheepishly. I snicker at him and decide it's high time to poke fun at him. I reach up to pinch his cheeks.

"Awww, look at sweet little Marco blushing like a tomato. So cute!" He swats my hand away gently and laughs a little too.

"S-Stop it, that's embarrassing."

I had to do something to get my mind off of how fast my heart beats whenever I see him smile at me like that.

Such a warm, loving smile.

It takes us a little over a week to finally get out to the beach. Our first step in this plan was to of course ask all available adults for permission. My mom and Marco's mom were all for it as long as we didn't do anything stupid. Connie didn't have to ask his parents since they don't even live in this city, that lucky bastard. The problem came with Sasha's aunt since we need a ride from her. Surprisingly enough, the aunt of our favorite bubbly goob is not so bubbly herself. She's pretty much a normal, exhausted adult; I don't know how she even puts up with Sasha.

Because of her mature attitude, she refused Sasha the first fifty times she asked, saying she would need to wait for a better day. During that first week of negative responses, Sasha stayed over my house for a few nights. To be quite honest, it doesn't seem like a good idea to nag your aunt about a ride and run away to your friend's house when she says no, but that's just me.

We finally got a confirmation from her aunt and our beach trip was set for July 31st, exactly ten days after summer break began. Fucking finally.

It seems that the good old Kirstein Bakery is the hot spot for the teens in the area because we always gather at my place. I don't know why, since Marco lives in a set of apartments much further down the road we have to take anyway. Poor Marco, having to backtrack after meeting with us because of terrible planning; I feel really bad for him.

Speaking of Marco and the gang, their asses are running late. The one time I opt for waiting _outside_ of the bakery so as not to disturb my mom, they have the audacity to take their sweet ass time. Sasha should be here first considering she lives the closest and Connie is always last because the dorms are pretty far from here. I sigh out loud and lean my head back on the brick wall of the building. Fuck standing, I sat down instead and thankfully there's some shade here, otherwise I'd be burning my legs on that hot concrete.

I've been passing the time by watching cars zoom by on the road. Sadly, they only offer me fumes from the burning oil and a warm breeze as they pass by.

Not exactly refreshing in this already scorching heat.

I slide my sunglasses on and just focus my attention on some random spot across the street. I wiggle my phone free from my pocket and check the time real quick. It's 11:37. They're thirty-seven minutes late, what the fuck.

Of course, speak of the devil, Marco arrives on the scene, entering in from my right peripheral. He offers me his usual wave and cheery smile and I almost fall over laughing at his stupid get up. He comes up wearing an outdated white polo shirt with thin blue stripes across his chest and some bright orange shorts. Never mind his plain ass bag and stupid flip flops, this outfit does _not_ work with him in the slightest. Marco frowns while I'm sprawled out onto the sidewalk laughing at his expense.

"What's so funny?"

"Your fucking clothes. Jesus, you look like a rich, spoiled boy in those clothes! Did your daddy pick 'em out for you?" I look up in time to see Marco visibly flinch and tense up. Oh? Was I being too harsh on him?

He chuckles nervously and wipes his nose with his index finger after a short pause. "Ahaha, yeah…guess you could say my dad, uh, got them for me."

I feel a small pang of sadness from his tone but before I can apologize, Sasha and Connie spring on me from my left without warning. I squeal as they both land on top of me, discarding their bags to the side.

"We saw you being mean to Marco, so we came to save him!" Connie shouts out while I wrestle with Sasha. Holy shit, she has a strong grip because I can barely move. From underneath her body I can hear Marco politely asking them to get off of me while laughing hard. You fucking traitor! He pulls Sasha off and sets her upright and offers his hand to me; I take it ungratefully and sit up, wiping off all the dirt that I've accumulated from being stuck on the ground.

"You fuckers are so late."

"Oh yeah, sorry. I went over to Connie's dorm so we could walk here together and I tried _so_ hard to wake his ass up." Connie gives Sasha a scandalized look as she rats him out. He huffs out a breath and turns to pick their bags up along with his ginormous cooler. Seriously, why was it that important to bring when you're only coming to this city for school? I stare at the two incredulously for a few moments before turning towards the road we need to walk on for an hour.

One hour of Sasha and Connie behind us cracking jokes to each other and holding hands.

One hour of being so close to Marco that it almost hurts not being able to hold his hand.

One hour to realize how doomed I am that _I__'__m going to the fucking beach with my fucking crush._

What the hell was I thinking when I agreed to this?

Thank God we chose a Thursday to go to the beach because it's fairly tame. There are still a lot of people out but for what it's worth, it's honestly not that bad.

Besides, I see no one near our favorite rock spot. Excellent!

Sasha and Connie hurry up ahead of Marco and I as I grab his wrist to tug him along with me. Marco must have some arched feet or something because he keeps tripping over the sand as I pull him along. I almost fall a few times as I drag him but instead of getting annoyed, his sweet laughter is what keeps me level headed. Sort of. I find the sound of his laughter so much more calming than the rhythmic sounds of the waves crashing onto the shore.

We catch up with Sasha and Connie a few minutes later and are delighted to see that they've already set up our little area with towels and such. They've both got their shirts off and Sasha's spreading sunscreen on Connie's back and shoulders.

"Hey, don't forget that bald ass head of his so he doesn't become a redhead for a few days." I should become a fucking comedian.

Connie and Sasha groan at my genius joke as Marco and I set our stuff down next to theirs and take our towels out. Connie hops up from his spot and takes the lotion from Sasha's hands and starts working on her back as well. I'd consider the whole thing cute if I wasn't ready to gag at their overly friendly display. I slowly shift through my things and pull out my own, even stronger sunscreen out and kick my flip flops off. Marco does the same and just idly sits on his towel, avoiding eye contact with me.

"Hey, Marco, you check your phone, I sent you a text like a couple minutes ago," I hear Connie call over to him. Marco perks up and blushes like crazy. What the fuck is wrong with him? Oh well, it's probably about some gross boy shit anyway. But fuck, I'm really scared about taking my shirt off with Marco _right there_. Jesus, it's not like I'm completely naked but…I can't help the fact that my stomach feels like doing flips and my heart is beating faster than it definitely should. Fuck, I had no problem being almost exposed in front of Connie and Sasha, so this shouldn't be too different.

Oh fuck. Fuck fuck _fuck_. Marco's already pulled his shirt over his head and I have to stop myself from drooling at the display before me. He has freckles splattered _all over_ his body. I thought they were just a facial thing but oh god, was I wrong. His shoulders and chest have a nice cluster of freckles but that's not the only thing I notice about him. He's incredibly tan too; I mean, his skin is so dark and wonderful. If we were to hold our arms out together, the difference would be literally that of night and day. Something tells me that's not a normal tan and that maybe his family's from somewhere far off. Either way, it doesn't do anything to stop me from staring.

I pry my eyes off of him and look down at my towel. Yes, just focus on the towel. It's got bright colors and all sorts of generic fish on it. Definitely not shirtless Marco with freckles all over the pla– FUCK.

Okay, plan B, I'll just slowly and carefully start undressing, slap on some sunscreen, and run like hell into the water. Yeah! That sounds good.

The hardest thing is to not look at Marco. At all.

I lift the grey T-shirt over my head, tossing it gently on my bag and quickly check my bikini top to make sure everything is in place. Good, boobs have been accounted for and they aren't falling out. I peek over my shoulder real quick to check on Marco and look away immediately while he's getting his sunscreen on. Okay, so, maybe I should ask Sasha to help me with mine instead of asking him; I don't think I could honestly handle it right now.

Connie has already bolted for the ocean, shouting that whoever is last in is a rotten egg.

Fucker.

Sasha's wrestling with her shorts and is about to do the same but I stop her in her tracks. She peers at me curiously.

"H-Hey, wanna help me with this?" I ask nervously, pointing to my sunscreen. She smiles and drops down right behind me, grabbing the bottle quickly from my hands. She pops open the lid and I move my hair over the front of my shoulder, bracing for the cold that's about to assault my back and shoulders.

"Okay, I'm about to start." She spreads the cold, thick cream onto my back and I hiss from the initial contact. Normally this shit shouldn't be so fucking cold but a _certain mother of mine_ insisted that it be kept in the fridge with the aloe so it'll feel nice in the summer heat. Who the fuck does that, Mom? No one, that's who. I hear Sasha giggle behind me as I shiver from how ridiculous this is.

In front of me, about ten feet away, Connie's screaming something about seeing a fish and that he's going to go catch it. Swim on, little man. Sasha whimpers and quickly finishes up her business with me. I offer her thanks as she stands up and she looks over to my left where Marco is still apparently sitting.

I glance at him as well, this time feeling a little braver and keeping myself under control.

"You know, you don't have to wait for us, Marco. You can jump in at any time!"

"O-Oh, yeah, I know. It's all right, don't worry about me." He smiles and waves Sasha off. She shrugs and sprints to join Connie in catching the illusive fish, leaving Marco and I alone and shirtless. He's blushing hard like a madman and I'm starting to think it's because of me. Great, both of us can't be going red in the cheeks over each other.

Besides, I'm just some pasty girl with a lanky body and knobby knees. He's the amazing one with his bronze skin, nice chest, broad shoulders and those long legs that go on forever and and _and-_

Fuck, I'm not doing so well in the acting normal department.

I take a deep breath and turn back to remove my shorts so I can finish coating myself with the sunscreen. I can hear my pulse in my ears as I try so hard to focus on the sound of laughter coming from my hyper friends and the sloshing of the waves on the sand. As I work on my legs, I hear the sand shift slightly next to me and I look up to see Marco standing over me.

"Uh, hey, when you're done…c-c-can I talk to you…you know…" He points to a few rocks behind us. "…o-over there?"

That's uh…oh boy, that's really weird. I try to answer with a verbal response but my mouth has run dry, so instead I nod quickly, a little too quickly. Marco smiles but doesn't make eye contact with me. He helps me up and offers to let me go first.

Fuck, my heart is beating so fast and I'm so fucking nervous. What the hell does he want to talk about? Does this have something to do with what Connie mentioned earlier? My thoughts are flying at a hundred miles a second and I can't keep up with them. I need to just concentrate on stepping over these rocks.

They're smooth and hot and if I step on them wrong, my bony ass will get both burnt and scratched up. Needless to say I don't need that shit, especially if I'm about to head into salt water soon.

I climb over them successfully and step out onto the sand safely before turning to help Marco over. If he's as clumsy and unbalanced just walking on the sand, then I don't trust him to be okay climbing over a couple rocks. He accepts my hand graciously and I keep him steady the best I can.

Here we go again; the warmth of his hand is enough to set me off. It's not even sweaty or gross considering the heat, it's just…comforting. My hand fits easily in his and his long, slender fingers wrap around mine. I hope my hand doesn't feel clammy or weird to him but who knows considering how perfect his hand is.

Once safely over the rocks, Marco and I don't let go of each other's hand and we opt for looking at each other awkwardly. He's looking down at the ground awkwardly, only giving me quick glances and blushing while doing so. He's also scratching his neck with his free hand which means he's hella nervous.

…fucking Connie and his "hella" bullshit.

Marco opens his mouth to speak a few times but nothing comes out. I stand a little closer to him, keeping us about a foot apart, and try to listen just in case he says something.

This is getting _painfully_ awkward; I need to do something or say _something_. I notice that he's still on a small rock, so he's much taller than normal.

"H-Hey, why don't you come down and make yourself more approachable. You look like a goddamned giant on that rock." I chuckle nervously. He lets out a small "oh" and steps down, shaking a little bit. I try to steady him down but it's too late.

It happens so fast that I barely have time to register Marco slipping on his way down and knocking us both over. We both yelp as we fall right into the soft sand, landing with a dull thump. Ugh, I landed on my back so now all this sand is going to get stuck where I have my sunsc–

–why is there something heavy on me?

I open my eyes slowly.

_Holy shit._

Not two inches from my face is _fucking Marco Bodt_, hovering over me and staring back at me with an equally horrified expression. He's taking very short, shallow breaths and just looking at me with those big brown eyes of his.

Fuck.

_Fuck._

What do I do?

I mean…

…_he__'__s right there!_

"U-Uh, I-I, uh…" he sputters out, trying to get his brain working as well.

My eyes flick down to his slightly parted lips as I wrap my brain around the situation. Okay, let's state the obvious. My crush is literally on top of me and very _very_ close. This is everyone's dream, right? Too bad I feel like I'm about to have a damn heart attack.

And it's not even that he's so close to me that's causing me to almost panic; he's literally _touching me_. Our legs are tangled together and fuck I feel so fucking exposed in nothing but a swimsuit.

_But his skin is so warm and soft._

Maybe if I…inch up a little.

His lips look soft as well and I want to find out if they truly are.

"C-Can I…?" I whisper softly, my voice is tiny and shaky. Marco's eyes shift all over my face for any sign of discomfort. He swallows and slowly leans down.

It's hot. Everything is so hot. My face, my breath, my body, his body, just…everything. My stomach is in coils and knots and I even feel slick in between my legs.

Will it always feel like this?

I feel Marco's hot breath against my lips as he leans down so _fucking_ slowly. Impatient and running on adrenaline, I close the gap between our lips and he squeaks. I completely ignore the sound, focusing only on the sensation of our lips together and feeling him tremble as he slowly kisses back. Marco's lips are surprisingly soft; I thought guys' lips were supposed to be rough and chapped.

Fuck, my hands are shaking so bad. What do I even do with them? Should I touch him? I'm going to touch him.

Slowly and carefully, I slide my hands up his arms to his shoulders and he shudders from the ghostly touch. Marco reciprocates by shifting himself on top of me, keeping our bodies pressed close together. I squirm a little beneath him and he pulls away, leaving us both panting from the rushed kiss.

"I-Is this okay? A-Are you a-all right?" Marco whispers to me, leaving only a few inches between us. I nod and blush furiously as he settles himself in between my legs and keeps his hands close to my waist.

"D-Do it more," I quietly beg him. I swear his face must be darker than a tomato. Without much grace, he smashes his lips against mine again, knocking our teeth together.

"S-Sorry," he mutters against my lips and I close my eyes, wincing from the pain. We start off better this time and we kiss each other harder. Feeling bolder, Marco slides his hands up and down my waist, sending shivers down my spine. He presses himself closer to me and _oh my god_.

_I can __feel__ him_.

I can feel _him_ pressing up against my lower abdomen. He's so…hard. My brain is being overloaded with all this new information and all these new sensations and feelings and just _fuck it_. I'm going to enjoy this kiss, dammit. Leave it to me to overthink things at the most crucial moment.

I move one of my hands up from his shoulder to his cheek and up to his head, tangling my fingers in his thick, dark hair. Marco responds by deepening the kiss and carefully sliding his tongue past my parted lips. It's soft and wet against my own and I timidly offer mine to him. I feel his muscles slowly relax and he starts rubbing himself against me. Fuck! I moan into the softly into the kiss and he pulls away again.

"W-Will you be m-my girlfriend, Jeannie?"

I-

You fucking idiot.

_Don__'__t interrupt our kiss like that!_

I bite my lip in order to stifle my laughter. This is too amazing, what with him interrupting us to ask that and just…that it's even happening. He must think I'm insane for laughing at a time like this.

Not to mention, he looks so scared and hurt right now.

"Y-You idiot."

Was that really the best thing to say right now? Fuck me.

Marco looks away to his side, sighing in defeat. I reach up, grabbing his face, and offer him a small, sweet kiss. The look on his face is priceless.

"I meant, yes. Yes, Marco."

I have no idea how long we've been like this but I couldn't care less. So long as Sasha and Connie don't come around snooping, I would stay like this all day. With Marco on top, kissing me, and feeling how warm and hard he is against me.

His eyes light up as he gives me the biggest smile. I can't help but smile back at him as well because this is just…so surreal. Am I sure I'm not dreaming? Oh no, I definitely am not. Not when Marco grinds our hips together, causing me to make another lewd sound. I turn my head to the side, away from Marco, fearing that I'm actually making a very hideous face. I can't handle him having a boner for me one second and then losing it from seeing my face.

He plants a small kiss on my cheek and coaxes me to look at him. Marco takes my lips again with a desperate kiss and we're at it again. I nearly jump out of my skin when his hands roam around and grope at my breasts. This fucker is feeling extremely bold but honestly, I'm not complaining. I'm moaning and arching my back against him, grabbing at him desperately. Marco thrusts himself against me, the friction between us becoming hotter and almost unbearable.

I only break away from his kisses to catch my breath but it never lasts more than a few seconds. I moan softly into the kiss as he squeezes and fondles me and _oh god_, I feel so dizzy. There are so many things going on I can't…I can't keep up. My brain is fried and all I can think about is how dirty this feels.

_About how right it feels._

He groans as he grinds his hardened cock against my crotch and I quiver from such an intimate touch. Marco slides his right hand under my bikini top and _fuck,_ it feels good having the warmth of his hand on me like that. I claw at his back and nip at his lips, desperately trying to get as much of him as I possibly can. He shudders against me and moans harder, gasping my name between his our kisses and licks.

"J-Jeeeeannie," Marco stammers, his breath hitching. His body jerks and tenses on top of me before going completely still. I look up at him curiously and find that he's staring down at me hard.

Dear god, if his face gets any redder than it is now, I just might have to call 911 or something.

Marco takes his hands off of me and jumps off of me completely. His eyes dart around everywhere and he holds his hand out to me.

"H-Hey, let's, uh, let's go swimming now! I b-bet S-Sasha and C-Connie must be really worried!" I stare at him completely dazed and confused. My hand comes up to my face to wipe the excess saliva off and I reach up, taking his hand.

"Marco, are you o-"

"Perfectly fine!"

I blink a few times. He's obviously fucking hiding something but I'll just…forget about it. I'd rather reflect on what the hell just transpired a few minutes ago.

The feeling of his lips on mine still lingers even after being separated. _Shit_, everything about what just happened is…is amazing. I've never felt so needy or dirty like that before in my life.

I could definitely get used to that.

That kind of kissing and feeling his hands roam all over me like that.

Oh fuck, Jeanne, now's not the time to pop a lady boner. It's time to be civil and act like that didn't happen at all. Even though it did and I don't think I could honestly stop myself from thinking about it for the rest of the day.

Marco and I slowly and carefully climb over the rocks again, making sure that he does _not_ fall on top of me again. We run back to the water and join our friends again. It's painfully obvious that we were gone a significant amount of time but I thank every deity known to man that Sasha and Connie let it slide.

For now, at least.

We know that Sasha's aunt won't be able to pick us up until after six o'clock, so after we're completely exhausted from swimming and lying on towels, we haul our shit up and head over to the nearest changing rooms. Sasha and I both opt for putting our hair up in some way. Not going to lie, my hair must look hilarious with only one half in a messy, wet bun.

Oh well, if people have a problem, they can deal.

I think they'll be more likely to stare at Connie lugging around a cooler behind him as we make our way down the boardwalk and towards all the little shops. I throw him a smirk over my shoulder as he gripes about carrying it around. That was your fault little man.

And we must look like a bunch of fools in general, walking down the sidewalk in a single file instead of all next to each other. I suppose it would be an asshole move on our part to take up the entire sidewalk, but I seriously wouldn't give a shit about these people.

Sasha is the leader of the line; Marco is behind her, followed by me, and poor little Connie behind me.

I look around at all the commotion going on at the boardwalk. There are plenty of people here, no doubt about that. It's not too much to be overcrowded but way more than I would like. Although, I'll have to thank somebody or something that it's not as crowded as the foyer of good old Trost Secondary when everyone is hurrying off to their fourth class. Now that is the true nightmare.

It's a little past four in the afternoon but the sun is still up high and isn't showing any signs of setting soon. This means we've got another two hours to kill so I hope we'll find something interesting to keep our attention. Then again, with Connie and Sasha and their enthusiastic spirits, that might not be too hard. At least they were smart enough to pick the side where the most shade is. It's still pretty hot out here, but the buildings next to us offer a wonderful chance to cool down.

Of course, I can't get the smell of fucking salt water out of my nose but the shops and vendors around here offer something better at least. We pass by a small hot dog vendor and then a barbecue restaurant a few feet away. Ah, shit, that really smells good. Too bad all of us ate much earlier.

Marco makes a few glances back at me before offering his hand shyly. I look down to the sidewalk and slowly lift my hand up to his.

"You're such a dork, Marco."

I hear two sets of chuckles.

_Fucking Connie._

I whip my head around and see Connie whistling innocently while pretending to gaze at the scenery. His eyes meet mine for a second and he bursts out laughing.

"Oh my god, you should see your face. You look so flustered!"

"Shut up, little man."

Marco tugs gently on my hand and winds our fingers together, coaxing me closer to him. Connie laughs some more but fuck it. He's not worth it right now, especially since Sasha is leading us straight to the little ice cream shop on the corner ahead of us. Once Connie notices as well, he quickly moves past us to join Sasha up ahead, claiming that he deserves ice cream the most after I harassed him.

Yeah, okay, you enjoy your ice cream while I enjoy my newly acquired boyfriend.

….

_Shit! I have a boyfriend!_

After I've gotten home and showered, with minimal pain because I wasn't sunburnt, I sit down on my bed with my back against the wall. The coolness of the wall feels good on my back, so I close my eyes and let out a contented sigh. Mom also hasn't been bothering me about what we did today, so that's a plus. How can I honestly tell her I got a boyfriend when I told her before I never would? Ugh, that's something I'll deal with when it's time.

Right now, it's time to relax and enjoy the silence in my room.

The silence which is broken by the sound of a creaking door and squeaky cat.

Without opening my eyes, I feel an extra weight on my bed and know immediately that Josephine has joined me in my pursuit for solitude. She sits down next to me and looks up at me expectantly. I move my hand a little to the side and she meows, rubbing her gross face on it.

I move my other hand over to scratch behind her ears, reveling in how nice and soft she feels. I only want soft things around me after a brutal day in salt water and sand.

"You're such a silly lady, you know that, Josie?" Her only response is a low, rumbling purr.

She settles into my lap and we sit like this for a few minutes; her enjoying her pampering and me enjoying the calmness in the room. I grope around my bed sheets for the remote to my TV and I hit the power button, watching it hum to life with a bright ass screen. Shit, I didn't think about how dark my room was before turning it on, fuck.

After squinting and adjusting to the brightness of the screen, I mindlessly watch whatever's on right now. Apparently I must have been watching a cooking show last time because that's what's on now.

…I don't remember turning to this last time; I guess I was half asleep.

Whatever, I'll just watch it since I don't have anything else in mind. The lady on the show has such a thick accent but is very enthusiastic about whatever she's making. She's a tiny, adorable lady with short, dark hair and a bright orange shirt. She's making some foreign dish that I didn't quite catch the name of and I almost cringe when she adds a copious amount of peppers and red chili powder.

Yeah, I don't do spicy shit.

Thankfully my phone goes off, signaling a text message and I lean over to retrieve it from my pillow, making Josephine meow in protest.

Yeah, yeah, hush you. This might be important.

In fact, it is important because it's from Marco.

**From: None pizza with left beef**

**hey jeannie did u have fun today? :P**

I crack a smile at his stupid use of faces.

**To: None pizza with left beef**

**yeah I did how about u?**

**From: None pizza with left beef**

**lotsa fun! I wanna go to the beach with u guys again real soon**

Gross.

I start typing in a reply when he sends me another message.

**From: None pizza with left beef**

**so ur…serious about being my girlfriend right?**

_I want to throw my phone across the room._

**From: None pizza with left beef**

**i mean everything was kinda rushed and I don't want u to feel pressured or anything**

I groan loudly at my phone.

**To: None pizza with left beef**

**yes marco I was serious**

**i want to be ur girlfriend**

Nng, that was so cheesy sounding, holy fuck. I just want to cringe at myself and at Marco.

**From: None pizza with left beef**

**great! I'm so happy jeannie :)**

That's it. I throw my phone back onto my pillow and cover my face with my hands.

One month of summer vacation flies by surprisingly fast, especially when you spend most of it _actually_ doing things. Sasha is a goddamn slave driver when it comes to planning activities _and_ making sure we participate. I can't be too mad at her, though; at least my sleep schedule has stayed pretty decent. Normally I'm up all night and asleep during the day; my mother hates when I'm like that, but whatever.

We've all agreed that the last week of vacation is our "freebie" one and that we can do whatever we want. I choose to do absolutely nothing and lay in bed all day.

However, I do have something planned tonight and, more importantly, something planned two days from now.

Marco asked me out for our first date. And I said yes.

And I think he said something about trying out that amusement park near the boardwalk. To be honest, my brain shut down after he asked me so I sort of stopped listening. This is just all too surreal for me.

So surreal that I've started avoiding Marco a bit. I'll text him a few times but I just feel so nervous doing so.

I thought I would be excited having a boyfriend and I am, don't get me wrong. I just…how do I act? Do I need to act more girly now? Is Marco into those kinds of girls? Honestly, what did he see in me?

Fuck, I hate this bullshit.

And that's why I have Sasha coming to sleep over today. I need to talk to her. She'll understand, hopefully; I could use a nice, positive outlook from my best friend.

I fiddle around with my phone as I sit in bed with my knees close to my chest. I'm simultaneously texting Sasha and Marco, mainly Sasha though. As per usual, she's taking her sweet time getting ready and I'm telling her to hurry her ass up.

Marco….is going on about how excited he is for the date and that I don't need to worry about bringing money or anything. He said it's his chance to pay me back for all the times I've covered him.

My stomach does flips. He's a goddamned angel.

I spend another good fifteen minutes texting with Marco, trying to make up for avoiding him recently and it seems to me that he never really noticed. I hear the door downstairs open and shut immediately, signaling the arrival of my bubbly friend. Sasha makes her way upstairs and peeks her head into my open door.

"Hiya!"

"Jesus, nice of you to finally show up."

She sticks her tongue out and waves at me dismissively. "Oh, you'll get over it, miss grumpy pants." Sasha holds up a plastic bag for me to see. "Look, I brought us both goodies to snack on while you tell me the juicy details!" She sets her overnight bag down and takes a seat next to me on the bed.

Of course, upon hearing company, Josephine decides to be sociable and enters my room just after Sasha. Sasha clicks her tongue a bit, coaxing the fat cat over to the bed and Josephine hops up, purring loudly. Sasha coos at her while I rummage through the bag, checking out the snack loot. I always trust Sasha to have good taste and to know what I like and thankfully she gets my favorite candy and drinks.

Good, this helps me calm down a little bit.

"So what's going on besides Marco _finally_ asking you to be his girlfriend?" Sasha asks after she and the cat are settled comfortably in my bed.

I take a deep breath and answer. "Marco asked me out on a date in two days…and well, I'm scared."

Sasha looks at me with a mix of concern and confusion. "How come? Marco's one of the sweetest guys we know."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to fucking do, Sasha!" I throw my arms up in the air and let them fall limp into my lap. Josephine jumps slightly, startled at the sudden noise, but quickly nuzzles into Sasha's lap again. I swallow and continue, "I don't know how I need to act. I feel like I need to be different to keep him or something. I don't feel like the real me is good enough right now."

Great, I'm drowning in self-hatred. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"But I'm sure Marco doesn't want to date a fake you. Why are you so worried about how you need to act with him? Just be your normal self."

"What if my normal self goes and ruins everything?" I look away from her and take in the sight of my old, off-white walls.

Sasha shifts in my bed so she's facing me while keeping Josephine content in her lap. She rests her head on her hand.

"Okay, you know Connie and I are dating, right?"

I look back at her immediately, completely shocked. What the fuck? Seriously? When the hell did this even happen? "What? When?"

Sasha snorts and covers her mouth while laughing. I'm left looking incredibly stupid from not catching this sooner.

"Gosh, I dunno…back in May I think. I asked him out and he was chill with it, so yeah." She shrugs and smiles back at me. I must look completely idiotic because she sighs and continues on. "What I'm saying is, you probably never noticed us because we really don't do things differently. I mean, sure, we've kissed and held hands before, but that's really all that's different."

I stare at her and try hard to think about all the times I've seen them together, especially recently with our summer outings. Of course, when I need to think about all this, I can barely remember a damn thing. I've seen them hold hands before but that's nothing new because we're all a bunch of weirdos who hold hands with each other. Except, I've never seen Connie or Marco do that.

And what a fantastic time to blush, thinking about Marco's hands again.

Especially with how warm and comforting they feel around my own…and on my – WHOA! NO! Now is not the time to think about what happened at the beach earlier in the vacation, no matter how hot and amazing it felt.

I sense Sasha staring hard at me and I realize I'm probably blushing so fucking hard right now. She's giving me a shit-eating grin which tells me that I definitely am blushing like a fool.

"All right, spill. What did you think of that made you go all googoo eyed?"

I lean forward, looking away from her again. "Nothing at all."

"I'm hurt. What happened to honest Jeanne?"

I groan and speak up bravely, "When Marco and I got together at the beach, we fucking made out. Does that please you, your highness?"

Sasha giggles instantly and claps her hands together. "Oh my god, that's amazing! My little Jeanne is growing up into a fine young woman." I shove her away and she falls back on the bed, weak from laughing. Josephine hops away just in time before she's crushed and settles down on a different corner of the bed.

After Sasha finishes with her little laughing fit, she wipes the tears away from her eyes and faces me again.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry but that's too great. You know, Marco came up to me and Connie for advice. The poor thing was so nervous about asking you."

I deadpan, "Wait, so you knew he was gonna ask me?"

"Yeah, of course, but we weren't going to tell you. That would have ruined the surprise. I'm impressed with him, though; going as far as to make out with you when he asked you out."

Sasha wraps her arm around my shoulders, pulling me in for an awkward side hug. She leans her head on my shoulder and I return the motion by laying my head on hers and grumbling.

"Trust me, Jeanne. Just act like you normally do with him and everything will run smoothly. You two really like each other and I think you guys are the cutest couple."

"Or I'll act like I normally do and make a complete ass of myself."

Sasha swats my arm.

It's here.

The date day is here and I've been pacing around my bedroom for the past five minutes, trying to see if my outfit is okay and checking my phone constantly. Marco should be here any minute and I don't know how well I'm going to do. At least Marco seemed cheery while we were on the phone, but knowing him he'd probably be as freaked out as me.

Then again, Marco has an incredible ability to keep himself calm under the most stressful of situations. Shit, how am I going to top that?

I almost trip over my bag when Mom knocks on my door and enters in swiftly, signaling Marco's arrival.

Mom had really mixed feelings when I told her about this date, but at least she's giving Marco a chance. She only squinted at me suspiciously when I told her and mimicked my words about how he'll never be my boyfriend.

I guess it's true that you never say "never".

"He's waiting downstairs for you, honey, come on."

I gulp and fiddle with my hair one more time. I couldn't decide on what the fuck I wanted to do with it, so I put it in a braid. Mom senses my distress and walks over to help me fix it.

"You look fine. Now don't be rude and hurry downstairs. Honestly, I've never seen you so frightened before."

That's because you don't know how awkward I am, Mother dearest. There's always a chance I could fuck something up and Marco will call it off immediately. With a sigh, I flip the braid to the front of my shoulder and follow my mother downstairs.

Ah, there he is in all his dorky glory. Marco sits with his legs closed and knee bouncing up and down, looking rather uncomfortable. He turns his head to the right at the sound of creaking steps and smiles brightly when he sees me first. I offer him a small smile and walk to him, standing only a foot away.

"I see you're wearing that same stupid shirt from the beach that day." Really, I just don't care for it.

Marco chuckles warmly and rubs his nose. "Y-Yeah, I guess you can call it my lucky shirt. It's gotten me out of so much and gotten me things I've really wanted."

I smirk. "Oh, so I'm a thing now?"

He looks almost petrified. "W-Wha- N-No, that's not what I meant!" I reach down to pat his shoulder, reassuring him. What a gullible person.

"Oh, Jeanne-bo, stop teasing him already." Mother playfully scolds me before turning to Marco. He stands up immediately from the couch and looks nervously at her.

"Now, Marco, I hope you didn't plan anything foolish with my little Jeanne-bo. I want her back no later than nine tonight, understood?"

Marco gulps and scratches the back of his neck. "O-Of course, ma'am. J-Jeanne will be just fine and home on time. All I have planned is to just take her to the amusement park near the boardwalk."

Mom nods and looks to me again. "And you have your phone on you just in case, right?"

I pat my pocket to reassure her. "Yes, Mom, right here and charged."

She sighs and gives us both a tired smile. "All right, you two be careful, you hear? Please call me if you have any trouble."

I tug on Marco's arm as he gives her an affirmative answer and we finally step out of the house. The bakery is quiet as usual aside from the two customers in the store but I pay them no mind. I'm more focused on getting away from my mom and keeping Marco close to me. Once outside the bakery, I groan loudly at the sudden heat wave. Fuck, it was so nice and cold in my house; why must I be tortured with Trost weather?

Marco laughs sweetly as I hurry away from the house, holding onto his arm and basically dragging him with me. We've got an hour walk ahead of us and I just want to hurry and get to our destination as quick as possible.

I'm so fucking nervous, I'm running on adrenaline right now.

I think Marco decides that I'm going too fast for him because he gently tugs on my arm and holds me still. I turn to him and feign a look of annoyance. He gives me a toothy smile and brings me a little closer.

"Are you okay? Why are you rushing? We have all day to get there."

I sigh. "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to get away from Mom."

He moves my hand down to his and holds it gently. My heart skips a beat. Marco steps beside me and we walk down the sidewalk in a comfortable silence, our hands tight around each other. Well, it might be comfortable for him but I'm trying so hard to think of _something _to say. What do you say to your boyfriend that you've had and sort of avoided for a few weeks?

"So, uh, where did your nickname come from? Y'know, Jeanne-bo?" Well thank god he knows how to break the silence but _fuck_ of all the things you can ask about, Marco.

"Actually, it's just some random nickname my mom called me as a baby." I shrug my shoulders and let them drop. "It just kinda stuck around, especially with my dad absolutely _loving_ the nickname."

"So, it's not from your culture or it doesn't mean anything?"

Well that was a strange question.

"Nah, not really." I do feel at ease though, with him talking to me like this. Marco has a nice ability of being able to calm my nerves. "What brought that up?"

He rubs his nose with the index finger of his left hand and giggles. "Oh, nothing. I just find it really cute and kind of a coincidence. My parents gave me a silly nickname when I was younger too."

Oh shit.

_Oh shit yes._

A sly grin forms on my face. "Oh really? And what would that be?" I start swaying our arms in large motions as I wait for his reply. Seems like he's feeling a little shy, the poor boy.

"Marco-jan."

He says it so quietly I actually miss it the first time around. Shit, this is what I get for having inner monologues.

"Wait, sorry, I missed that." I look at him innocently and a blush dusts his freckled cheeks. He bites his lip, mulling it over, and speaks up again.

"My nickname is Marco-jan."

He smiles fondly to himself and I just stare at him. It's good to see that at least _someone _is proud of their name. Then again, that name is really cute and it sort of flows.

"How'd that name come about?" I ask, giving him a genuine smile.

His smile drops slightly and feels a little sad. Shit, please tell me I didn't fuck this up already.

"My dad called me that when I was really little. The '-jan' at the end is kinda like an endearing thing you put at the end of someone's name. Apparently it's a common thing in my dad's native language because I haven't heard anyone around here use it. So when I heard '-bo' at the end of yours I got a little excited." Marco giggles and looks down to me.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. It's just something my parents tacked on during their mushy, baby talk phase. However, it seems to them that fifteen still warrants baby talk." I shrug and lean closer to Marco, feeling brave enough to twine our fingers together. He accepts the motion with a slight squeeze and plants a rushed kiss on my cheek.

"It's really cute and I think it suits you, Jeannie."

I look away immediately, frowning. What a gross bastard.

Wait a minute.

"You said it came from your dad's native language? English is the official language of all three countries and foreigners are kind of rare…where is he from?"

Marco looks surprised at me catching that little tidbit, but he shyly looks away. I don't think he'll answer it.

"A-Ah, y-yeah, his family…isn't from around here. I-I'll tell you another time, okay? Today's our date day so I want us to have fun and be happy."

_Be happy._

We get to the boardwalk a little after lunch time and set eyes on the small little amusement park. I swear, the second Marco laid eyes on it, he almost squealed with joy. I laugh and poke fun at him as usual but of course, he doesn't pay me any mind. He does look cute though, with his eyes shining so bright. I just wish it wasn't over this little place.

One day I'll take him to the most amazing theme park in Sina. Now _that_ was an amazing place.

I also specifically told Marco that we will not be getting into the water. I really don't want an accidental repeat of the first time, no matter _how_ amazing and hot it was. We'll just enjoy our time as a _normal_ teenaged couple.

…I hope.

Marco turns to me, grinning from ear to ear. "Where do you wanna go first?"

I step back and shrug, looking over all the rides and _all the people_. Jesus, don't any of you have jobs? My eyes flick straight to the Ferris wheel but I don't think Marco can handle that. I should start scoping out baby rides.

And there's something easy to start off with, at least by my standards.

"Hey, Marco. Are you good at handling fast rides?"

He nods his head quickly. "I'm good with anything! I love amusement parks and I'm just happy that Trost has one."

"They don't have stuff like this in Jinae, huh?" I ask, leading him towards our first ride.

"Well, other than the annual summer county fair, not really." Marco beams at me, graciously following me at a quick pace. If he wasn't walking, I'd swear he'd be bouncing up and down right now.

We head into the fairly short line for one of the faster rides, one where two people sit in a car and get propelled around in a circle. It's a simple ride but holy shit; I've loved it since I was a child. Marco leans on the metal railing, watching as the set of people before us enjoy the ride with a dopey smile on his face. I'm more focused on him and how the wind from the ride gently sways his bangs from side to side. He looks like a fucking prince at a goddamn amusement park.

Once the set ahead of us is finished, they clear the ride and Marco and I are next to go. We quickly head for the one up top, like the child Marco is; though, I'm just excited to get to that seat too. Never again will I have to face judgment by the stupid kids who used to beat me up here. I smirk over at some disappointed kiddies as I step into the car first, because the smaller rider is instructed to sit on the inside.

Don't want big ass Marco crushing me, after all.

Marco locks the bar down for us before the attendant gets the chance to reach us. I give him a satisfied smirk and he beams back to me. Once we're settled in, Marco starts sliding over to me a little because of how this damn ride is tilted right now.

"Jesus, you're barely on me and you're already crushing me."

"W-What? S-Sorry, I'll move."

"It was just a joke, _Marco-jan_." I reach of his arm and hold him in place close to me.

The attendant comes by to check the locks on the bar and finishes the other half of the line. While we're waiting, I take a moment to really look around, since we rushed in earlier. The sun is blaring down on us, of course, and it feels extremely hot.

Since we're on the highest point of the slope, I glance around at the colorful roofs and displays of the rides and other mini games. It's so lively and full of people and the atmosphere is positive and fun.

Even a grump like me can get used to this.

Ah, and the most notable quality of the park is the smell of popcorn wafting through the air. The park is quite a walk from the actual beach, so we're not bombarded with the constant scent of salt water.

Marco gently wraps his arm around my shoulder, effectively bringing me from my thoughts. He smiles at me and lets me know they're going to start. As soon as he does, the ride hums to life and the lights in the center shine bright yellows and reds.

It's smooth at first, not starting off too fast as we make our first lap around the track. However, our weight starts to shift and we drift over to the other side, with me sliding towards Marco. His arm around me holds me firmly as his other one grasps tightly at the metal bar holding us in.

The ride starts going significantly faster as I grope for the bar and hold on tight. Marco is laughing loudly as I'm pushed into him further. Jesus, it's almost like being thrown into a brick wall.

What the fuck kind of sixteen year old feels like that?

After a few more cycles, the ride slows down and stops, bringing us back to the top but not our original position. Damn!

Marco unlocks the bar and steps out, holding his hand out for me to get out. A couple other kids have unlocked themselves as well as the attendant comes out to help the rest. I hold onto Marco's hand as we step down and head through the exit gate.

He turns to me, smiling ear to ear, and I do the same.

"So where do you wanna go next?"

"Wherever you wanna go, Marco."

I lean up and kiss his cheek.

Marco and I have been on every ride in the amusement park except for the Ferris wheel and it's only half past four o'clock. We've stopped once we realized we hadn't eaten at all since we left our homes, so Marco and I rush to a few vendors.

He buys hot dogs for both of us and I swear, I should have kept a better eye on him because as I also see him coming back to our little table with a huge ass thing of cotton candy. I nearly choke on my drink seeing him bring that monstrosity back with him.

Marco sets our food down on the table first before sitting down across from me, holding up the colossal cotton candy.

"I hope you don't mind sharing this with me? I kinda…got it for us both."

My fake glare is ruined by my snorting at his puppy dog eyes. He looks so excited holding it up and pointing at it.

"Okay, I'll eat a little bit of it."

We wolf down our late lunch, not truly realizing how hungry we were until we took a bite. As I finish my hot dog, Marco holds the cotton candy to me, offering me the first pick. I smile and take off a generous piece of the sugary fluff. He does the same after me and takes a small bite, the snack dissolving quickly in my mouth. It's good but it always freaked me out at how fast it goes away. Ah, whatever, I'll deal with it.

"So, what shall we do next? I think we've gone on everything but the Ferris wheel," Marco says, munching on his portion of cotton candy. He looks adorable when a piece gets stuck to his lip and he tries to lick it off.

"I dunno, why don't we go around to the mini games and see if we can win anything." I browse the area for potential booths to visit. One in particular catches my eye.

Ah, the good old toss a ball and knock over the target games. That's exactly what I want.

Marco sees me staring and turns to look in the direction I am.

"Oh, you want me to win something for you?"

_Where the fuck did that come from!?_

I am perfectly capable of winning that shit on my own, thank you very much Marco.

But I humor him. "Of course! It's the final test in seeing if you're truly worthy of being my boyfriend."

Marco almost chokes.

I give him an evil grin.

After our snack, I never want to see another thing of cotton candy for as long as I shall live. We clean up our mess and head straight to the booth in question. The man behind the counter seems pretty enthusiastic about the game as opposed to some of the younger kids working here, who look dull and lifeless.

As we step closer, the man perks up and looks straight at Marco.

He clears his throat and speaks up, "Come on over and try your luck! I'm sure you want to impress your little girlie there with a prize!"

It takes every ounce of will power not to gag and roll my eyes at this man.

Marco chuckles nervously, sensing a shift in my demeanor and pays the man for one round. The man hands him three softballs and Marco takes on in his right hand, concentrating straight ahead on the target; the four tiers of small bottles stacked on top of each other. I refrain from commenting on how his stance is a little wrong and let him toss the first ball.

He tosses it underhanded and barely misses the stack on the right side. The look on his face is priceless as he turns to me, looking like he doesn't know what even happened. The man behind the counter keeps an impassive face and I turn away in time to ease myself of the second hand embarrassment.

Maybe he's just a little rusty. At least he has two chances left.

Marco grabs the second ball and steadies himself, throwing it overhanded this time. It flies over top of the target and falls to the ground.

This is too painful to watch, so I try to look away as much as possible.

I grit my teeth as Marco takes hold of the final ball and puts his try-hard face on. He furrows his brows, sticking the tip of his tongue out the corner of his mouth. I feel so bad for him trying so hard and not making it.

This is his last try.

He tosses the ball overhanded again and knocks off a single bottle from the top of the stack. His shoulders slump, admitting defeat and I actually feel bad for him as he gives me a sad look.

"Hey, don't feel too bad, buddy. Maybe you needed a quick warm up. Wanna try again?" the man offers Marco and I step up.

"I'll try this time, sir."

Both of them give me a surprised look and the man just doesn't know what to do with himself. He glances to Marco and he shrugs, moving over to let me up. Marco hands the vendor the money for my turn and he reluctantly sets up the target again and hands me the three balls.

I take the first ball in my left hand and toss it up and down a few times, getting used to the weight. It's been awhile since I've done anything like this so I hope I have the skills to back up my talk.

Nah, who am I kidding? I'm going to nail this shit and show this man not to assume my boyfriend is better than me.

I shift the ball around in my hand before finally feeling comfortable with it.

I flash a quick smirk back at Marco before turning to focus on the center of the target once more. I lean back and throw the ball overhanded, hitting the target head on and knocking it over completely with on swift throw. The plastic bottles hit the floor and bounce a few times along with the ball.

It's silent as I put my hands on my hips and smirk, watching Marco and the vendor man stare in awe.

"W-Wow, it's not often I see it get knocked over in one try. G-Good job there, girlie!" the man stammers, still looking on in disbelief. He slowly turns to me and looks completely embarrassed. "So, which prize would you like to take home today?"

Shit, I never even paid much attention to them. I look up at the variety of stuffed animals and other goodies before settling on one prize in particular.

"How about…that green unicorn with the white mane?" I point up above me to the fat plush. The vendor nods his head and reaches up to retrieve it for me, handing it to me.

"Thank you for your participation and don't hesitate to come back!"

Yeah, fuck you, I'm not coming back.

Marco waves back at him and we head off to another area of the park.

As we walk, I hand him the stuffed animal and he takes it graciously. Slinking it under one arm, Marco uses his other hand to hold mine as we walk around aimlessly.

"Well, if I had known you could throw like that, I would have had you gone first." Marco admits, laughing a little at himself. "Where did you learn that?"

"I used to play softball when I was much younger before I turned into a lazy piece of shit."

"Wow! Really?"

"U-Uh, yeah. My dad would always practice playing catch with me and he saw how good I was at pitching so he signed me up. Turns out I was actually pretty good, I guess." I shrug as I speak. Honestly, I almost forgot I had that skill, since it's not really relevant to me anymore.

Marco's eyes shine bright as he smiles warmly at me, his face full of admiration. Fuck, I don't deserve such a look.

"You're really amazing and full of surprises, you know that?"

_Fuck!_

"T-Thank you, Marco. But really, you're the amazing one for being so sweet."

His smile only gets wider before he looks ahead of us. He stops us from walking for a moment and looks around.

"Hey, look at that. We just walked straight to the Ferris wheel."

Shit, I didn't even notice that. I look up at the towering ride, slowly turning clockwise.

"M-Might as well go on it, yeah?"

I squint suspiciously at Marco. "You led us here on purpose didn't you?"

"N-No!"

Regardless of whether or not he actually did, we agree to finally get it over with and head into the line.

It's about quarter to eight when Marco and I sit out on a lonely bench away from the amusement park. We've been sitting here quietly for about ten minutes, resting and enjoying the silence together, as well as the sun setting over the ocean. The sun's already halfway down, creating a bunch of beautiful bright reds and oranges that dance across the waves of the water. The top of the sky shows signs of the impending twilight of lavender and violet melding into the vicious red closer to the sun.

I'm hugging the soft, plushy unicorn close to me as Marco has his arm draped over my shoulders. I lean my head onto his shoulder, just enjoying the closeness.

Feeling a little bold, I stretch out my legs quickly and raise them up to rest the on Marco's lap. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind and I could use a leg rest. However, that means I have shift the rest of my body to accommodate the movement so I'm not contorted in an unnatural, back breaking position.

Marco looks down to me in surprise, blushing immediately but decides not to say anything of it. I fish for my phone from my pocket and pull it out, checking for anything new. Thank god Mom hasn't decided to bother me. She said be back at nine and we still have little over an hour left.

Of course, Marco is an excellent mind reader, because he can tell it's just about time to go.

"We should start heading out in a few minutes. I don't want to know what your mother is like when she's angry."

"Oh, she's not the one you need to worry about seeing angry. Trust me."

"Ah, I see…" His voice trails off as he looks down at me. "Did you….did you have fun today?"

I turn my head and meet his dark, chocolaty eyes, nodding quickly. "Of course. It's actually been awhile since I've come here, so it was nice to do something out of the ordinary." I nuzzle closer to him, enjoying his warmth.

A random thought crosses my mind suddenly and I smirk, thinking of another way to pick at my boyfriend. I reach up and tug on the sleeve of his shirt, speaking up, "You know, this shirt isn't all that lucky."

A small grin forms on his lips as he looks at me lovingly. "Yeah, maybe it's not so lucky with mini games." He leans closer to me, resting his forehead against mine. "But, it's pretty lucky when it comes to you."

Marco presses a small, innocent kiss on my lips and lingers there. I'm surprised at first but I quickly ease into it.

I guess you can say I'm kind of used to this.

And that I really enjoy it.

I gently caress his cheek, bringing him closer to me and deepening the kiss. He reciprocates by holding me closer to him and shifting his head to the side, sliding his tongue against mine. We stay like this for a few moments, stopping for a few seconds to breathe and instantly go back.

This kiss is different from our very first one though.

This is more controlled…more tender and loving. We aren't desperate for each other because we know that we already have each other.

Marco pulls away reluctantly and boops his nose against mine.

"You're so pretty, Jeannie. I'm so glad that…we're actually together," he admits shyly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask playfully.

"I always thought you were too good for me."

That was unexpected. That's exactly what I thought about him.

Marco's so much better than me in every way…except with throwing softballs. I can kick his ass at that with my eyes closed.

"Yeah? W-Well…I thought the same about you, Mr. Honor Student."

He chuckles and kisses me sweetly one more time before reluctantly pulling away.

"Ready to head out, Jeannie?"

"Only if you carry me home with a piggyback ride."

Marco snorts at the request.

"Yes, my fair princess, anything you desire."


	5. Midnight City

School is shit. Trost is shit. September is shit.

But you know what's not shit.

My boyfriend, Marco.

He's really the best thing ever, despite how much I made fun of him from the moment I saw him. Marco's sweet, extremely dorky, and it almost seems like he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. At least from what I've seen from knowing him for five months.

Shit, has it really been five months already?

I swear, just yesterday I was doing everything in my power to hate this freckled boy but here he is now, something important to me. I honestly never thought I'd get this far with anyone, especially after my little incident over a year ago with Eren. Seriously, fuck that guy. I'm a fucking treat and he missed out.

I'm just glad that at least Marco has a wonderful taste in girls.

Okay, shit, that was really stupid.

And so is this history class with Pixis I'm in now. We've been back in school for about two weeks and I already hate it. I felt so miserable this morning waking up so goddamn early that, in fact, I actually fell right back asleep and was almost late for Mike's class. Out of all these classes, math is the last one I'd want to miss, all because of what my mother used to drill into my brain.

_The second you miss a math class, the second you__'__re behind forever._

I'm going for art anyway; why the fuck will I ever need to memorize this sine, cosine, and tangent bullshit? I don't need numbers to draw.

Speaking of numbers and drawing, that's all I've been doing in my notes this whole time. I was just doodling random objects such as flowers and whatever was close to me, but now I find myself drawing a big number five. I sigh and shift slightly in my seat so I'm not hunched over the desk anymore. My back thanks me graciously for this adjustment, since I've been sitting like this the whole time I've been in the classroom. I settle my cheek into my right hand and look up at the board briefly to see if there are any new notes to copy.

Nope.

I twirl my pen around between my fingers and let out a quiet sigh. My eyes flash over to the dusty, old clock on the wall just above the board. To my dismay, it's only quarter to eleven, meaning we still have twenty five minutes of this worthless class.

Sasha's not doing so well next to me; the poor thing can barely stay awake. I even took some candy out for her and she didn't even notice.

Normally I'd take the time to act like a little shit but I'm too tired and bored for that nonsense. Instead, I opt for glancing back at my boyfriend, who sadly sits all the way across the world from me. I smirk at the sight of him.

Mr. Honor Student is doing what he does best, actually paying attention and taking notes like a good little boy. I guess I'll just have to study off of him because I'm done right now. I want to go home and back into the warmth and comfort of my nice, plushy bed. Maybe I'll let him over and he can cuddle with me so I can be extra warm and comfortable.

Oh shit, I can't exactly do that today.

My dad is coming home for his six month leave from the military, goddammit.

Closing my eyes, I lean back in the chair, sliding down and causing it to creak beneath my shifting weight. Shut the fuck up, chair, I'm not that big.

Great, so that means Mom's going to close the shop early for him and I have to stay in the living room with them the entire time as they decide what the fuck to do for dinner. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see my dad again, it's been six months, but it's always such a production when he comes back.

Then again, I'm the biggest fucking hypocrite in the world and I'll probably latch onto him the moment I see him.

I'd rather latch onto Marco right now, to be quite honest.

_Fuck_. At some point I'm going to have to tell Dad about him.

Dad! Why do you always complicate things?

Marco waves back at Sasha and Connie as they leave ahead of us, keeping his other hand tightly clasped against mine.

I had asked him during lunch if we could stay behind at the school for a little longer. Thankfully the staff around here don't really care what we do as long as we're out officially by around five or so.

That means we can go anywhere we want in order to spend some time together.

Once he's done seeing our friends off, he gives me his undivided attention and smiles at me from ear to ear. I can't help it but return the gesture somewhat.

"So where do you want to stay?"

"Let's just try the library for now. It's pretty big, so I'm sure we can find somewhere nice and cozy."

He nods in understanding and we both walk from the middle of the foyer to the stairs leading up the second floor.

The biggest library is on the second floor, and yes, this means there's more than one. However, the library on the fourth floor is only accessible if you're in your fourth year. The rest of us get to share this enormous one that I don't even think could ever become crowded.

Then again, I've only been in there once and haven't exactly explored every square inch of it.

Marco and I clamber up the stairs, not even trying to be quiet as our footsteps echo in the stairwell.

"You know, you didn't tell me exactly why you wanted to stay after. Is there anything wrong?" Marco asks with genuine concern while I lead him towards the big brown doors of the library.

"No, it's nothing really bad. I just can't bring you over today." I bite my lip, feeling my cheeks heat up with my next thought. "I wanted to spend time with you."

Okay, I'm not used to this mushy talk yet, but I'm sure that will come around with time, right?

Ah, Sasha's words come to me when I need them most. Be myself, huh. I guess it's not really me to be so gross and lovey-dovey. I think Marco does enough of that for the both of us.

He holds one of the large doors open for me and I enter in first with him just behind. We're greeted immediately by the smell of old books and the uncomfortable gaze of the librarian behind her huge reception desk just a few feet to our left. I tug on the sleeve of Marco's shirt, gesturing for him to follow me off to the far right corner, away from the piercing eyes of the tiny woman who looks like the physical embodiment of evil.

Condensed evil, I should say.

Marco giggles as I lead him quickly through random aisles of shelves and books to the tables and couches in the back.

"Why the rush, Jeannie?"

I hold my finger to my lips and shush him, giving him a smirk as I do so. We're in the library dumbass, shut up.

We get to the end and, to our luck, there's no one on this side. Not many people stay behind and if they do, they're not in the library, so we have the whole place to ourselves. I plop down on one of the sofas lodged into the corner and Marco does just the same next to me, setting his bag on the floor. He puts his arm around me and pulls me against his warm body. Sighing contently, I nuzzle closer to him, pulling his face towards mine and giving him a quick peck on the lips. Marco gives me a toothy grin, reaching up to brush some hair from my face.

"So are we just doing in the library what we would normally do in your bedroom?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

He chuckles and whispers in low, seductive tone, "Not at all, babe." That just sent shivers down my spine. I pull him down once more for a deep kiss, holding him in place longer than before. He smiles against my lips and wraps his other arm around my waist, pulling me onto his lap.

_Fuck!_

My hands slide up his broad chest, over his shoulders, and link around his neck as I gently place my forehead against his. He rubs our noses together before pressing a soft kiss to my lips. I keep him against me as I trail one hand up to his head, raking it through his thick, black hair. Seriously, I love his fucking hair, it's so nice.

Marco's hands stay firm on my waist, holding me down onto him and grinding me against him. Oh? What's this? Someone seems to be really excited.

It's like the beach all over again but not as sloppy. We've gotten more refined in the art of making out since then, I've made sure of that.

Shit, and we're in the library on top of that. It's making this much more exciting than in my room and I feel even hotter than normal. Marco wastes no time in sliding his tongue in to meet my own, his hot breath tickling my lips. I moan into the kiss, blushing hard as a curious hand slides up against my chest and gently squeezes my breast.

I break away from the kiss to catch my breath and smile at the small noise of disappointment he makes.

"Too bad you can't take your shirt off here, huh, Marco?"

"Mmm, yeah, that's a shame. I like feeling you against me."

Okay, shit, how do you counter that?

While I'm at a loss for words and racking my brain for something remotely sexy, Marco takes the chance to connect our lips once more before moving to my jaw and down to my neck, where he eagerly nips at my soft skin.

God, that feels so good, feeling his teeth graze my neck. I lean my head back a little bit, allowing him more room to explore. He's on my left side, so he damn well better know not to leave any marks this time around. I don't want to think about the close call I had with Mom almost seeing it.

Jesus, here I am thinking about my mom when my fucking boyfriend is trying to make me feel good. Fucking typical.

"Mmm, Jeanne, I dunno how much longer I can keep this up," Marco whimpers in my ear. Fuck.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Either something happens and I'll need to run home quickly or I'll end up running home with you in hand." He bites his lip as he looks up at me with a pair of deep, dark brown eyes full of desire.

I've never thought about _that_ before. You know…_that_. I wonder, I don't think it would be so bad with Marco. He's so warm, his arms are strong, and I always feel safe with him. Maybe we should…

Maybe we should go to his place rig-

"Ahem."

I'm so fucking startled by someone clearing their throat that I hop right off of Marco and land ass first onto the hard, carpeted floor. My fucking heart is pounding so goddamn fast as I whip my head around to see where the noise came from.

_It__'__s the condensed evil!_

_I mean librarian woman!_

Marco and I look on in horror as she shuffles closer to us.

"Such acts of lechery and public display of affection are not allowed in this library. I don't ever want to see you two in here again, not even during regular hours." She points behind with her sharp, boney finger. "Get out right now, you little heathens. Before I change my mind and call your parents."

Oh no. No. No.

Not today.

Not on the day of my dad's return.

I hop up quickly from the floor, grabbing my bag as Marco does the same and we're rushing down the aisles again, away from that evil woman. Shit though. I've fucked up _yet again_.

And this time I've brought Marco down with me as well. There goes my happy mood.

Marco and I pass through the thick, brown doors and back into the second floor hallway. I hang my head low and walk ahead of Marco before he stops me, grabbing my wrist gently.

"H-Hey, it's okay. I mean…we're banned from the library, but that could've gone so much worse."

I almost want to mock that positive tone of his but I decide against it. Instead, I just reach for his hand and twine our fingers together.

With a sigh, I speak up, "I guess it's time to home then."

He nods in response and scratches the back his neck.

That's enough adventure for one fucking day.

The walk out of the school was awkward and quiet because what do you honestly say after that nonsense? I keep my eyes on the sidewalk in front of me, holding tightly to Marco's hand. At least being close to him keeps me relatively calm and collected.

Until he breaks the silence.

"So why couldn't we go to your house again?"

I sigh and give in. "Because Dad's coming home today from his military duty. He goes away for six months to Stohess in Sina country and then comes back on leave for the other six months."

I look at Marco curiously to see him studying my face closely. I can't exactly tell what he's feeling because he's neither smiling nor frowning.

"What? Something wrong?"

His face relaxes and settles into a familiar smile. "Ah, that must be amazing! I bet you and your mom must be so excited to see him."

There's an off putting hint of sadness in his voice that I really don't like. I simply ignore it, as always. I feel like I need to be careful about my choice of words here.

"Eh, I guess. I mean, it's nice having him around at first until he starts acting like the biggest dad in the world."

Marco snorts and says, "What do you mean by 'biggest dad in the world'?"

"I mean he acts like a stereotypical dad! Like, he's completely overprotective of me since I'm his only daughter. He makes _god awful_ dad jokes." I roll my eyes at that last bit but I'm not done. Oh no, there's so much that he does that embarrasses the shit out of me.

"Not to mention, he has the grossest sneeze you have ever heard in your life."

At this point, Marco is just laughing at everything I throw out to him, throwing his head back in utter delight.

Marco, no. You don't _know._

I swat his arm to get him to stop and he finally calms down and gives me a big smile, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"Oh, I bet it's not all that bad and you'll be excited once you actually see him. It must be great having him back…" Marco's voice trails off and he looks to the side, away from me.

"Yeah, I guess you're right but…that means I can't really have you over as much anymore. Shit, I still have to tell him about you." I'm not ready for that, but then again, Mom probably fucking told him already, seeing as she wasn't so excited herself about the arrangement.

"Well, maybe I'll just have to start taking you over to my place after school for a bit."

I don't know why I suddenly feel so embarrassed and tense from that.

Oh wait, he basically said we could have sex there not too long ago.

I stay quiet for the rest of the way to my home before stopping Marco well before the front of the shop. I turn my body into his and give him a big hug, reaching up to kiss his neck. He kisses the top of my head and just holds me in his strong warm arms. Thankfully the weather outside hasn't gotten too cold yet, but at least I have a furnace here to keep me warm if necessary.

We pull away after a few moments and take the time to smile at each other like dumbasses. Or at least, I feel like the dumbass; it looks natural on him.

He gives me one quick peck on my nose and then to my lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? And uh, text me, whenever you can."

"Sure, I'll probably need you to save me anyway."

I watch him walk back down the road towards his apartment before sighing and preparing myself for a night full of secondhand embarrassment.

The bakery's closed.

He's here.

I cautiously open the door to the kitchen after climbing the steps up to our home. I can already hear my dad talking with my mom about some silly story that happened while he was gone. However, they get quiet as they hear this old ass door creaking open.

"Jeanne-bo, is that you?"

"No, I'm a burglar. I've come to snatch your things."

I hear the sound of someone getting off the couch and padding their way towards me excitedly. Here he is, my dad in all his old army man glory. Dad's about six feet tall so he's got some good height on me and he's also got a gut on him, which I always like to poke fun at. I need to come up with a creative way to get at him this time around. He's also clean shaven, because of those regulations, but he'll be growing his beard back in no time at all.

Dad holds his arms open up invitingly, silently asking for a nice, big hug. I give in and run to him, wrapping my arms around him.

"Oh, my Jeanne-bo- how have you been, sweetpea?" he asks, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

"I've been good, Dad. No complaints."

"You haven't been sneaking out of any more classes, right?"

_One time, Dad! One fucking time!_

I roll my eyes before letting go and looking up to him. "No, Dad, I've been on my best behavior this whole time."

By this time, Mom has joined us in our happy reunion in the kitchen, smiling warmly at the both of us. Between the two of them, I take after my dad the most. We've got the same sharp, golden eyes, same thick eyebrows, and even the same haircut; however, he's had his undercut for years now and I just shaved the left half off just about a year ago. Mom likes to joke around that I want to be just like him, but that wasn't the reason I chopped it all off and dyed it.

"Here," Mom speaks up, "let's all go back into the living room and chat for a bit. Reggie needs to decide what he wants to eat for dinner before he starves."

Dad chuckles lightly at her teasing and replies, "Yes, please, I'm famished. They forgot to feed us on the way back."

"Oh yeah, Dad, I can tell. Your belly has shrunk since I last saw it." I snort out an obnoxious laugh as Dad just gives me an unimpressed look. God, I love messing with him.

We head into the living room and I plop down on the couch, crossing my legs, with Dad grunting as he settles down next to me.

Old man.

"Well, Cosette, I've really missed your cooking, so I figured we could stay home tonight. Maybe we'll go out with friends another night." Dad smiles fondly over to her.

Gross. Married adults are so gross.

Reminds me a lot of Marco and how gross he can be.

Mom giggles as my dad continuously compliments her and looks away, waving her hand at him. "Oh, stop it and just tell me what you want already."

My phone vibrates in my pocket, signaling a text message for me. Holy shit, this better not be Marco, especially since Dad likes to always snoop over my shoulder. I reach carefully for the phone and take it out just an inch to see the sender. Oh thank god, it's just Sasha.

"Who's that, sweetpea?" He's already looking over here, Jesus Christ.

"I-It's just my best friend, Sasha."

"Well tell her you're busy and put your phone away, all right? Now's not the time," Dad tells me sternly. I quickly unlock the phone, tap the letters on the screen to tell Sasha I need to fuck off, and I put it right back in my pocket.

"Yes, Daddy dearest. I'll isolate myself from society for a few hours." I give him a shit-eating grin and he rolls his eyes at me. At least I know I get that habit from him; I don't know why he gets so mad when I do it to him.

Dad looks back over to Mom, smiling at her again. "Hmm, honey, I think I'm feeling your amazing meatloaf tonight."

Fucking typical. He _always_ asks for that when he comes home; I don't know why he ever fusses about deciding what to have for dinner if he always just picks that. Besides, I can't stand meatloaf even if Mom is a good cook. I want my omelettes.

I cross my arms and try to make a disgusted face, knowing it probably looks extremely pitiful.

Mom nods and sits up from her old, burgundy recliner chair, telling us that she'll start dinner right away. As she leaves the room and heads into the kitchen, Dad takes the time to focus his attention on me again. I wonder what sorts of fun questions are in store for me.

"How have you been doing in school so far? Are your classes challenging enough for you?"

I shift around and sit cross-legged on the couch before turning to face him. "Yeah, they're pretty easy and sometimes really boring. I know all of what they're teaching me."

He shrugs. "Well, that's good in a way." Dad looks around awkwardly, tapping his fingers against the arm rest of the couch. He wants to say something and I'm starting to feel nervous. Other than the sound of pans hitting the counter and the refrigerator being opened up, it's quiet in the house.

"So…"

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until he starts talking.

"Your mother told me something interesting…"

Oh?

"She said you have a boyfriend now. Did you finally get together with that Eren boy?" He asks, clearly uncomfortable.

_No._

No, I cannot believe this.

I give my dad the most scandalized face I could muster. I'm talking about looking completely hurt and disgusted all at once. Dad recoils but raises his eyebrow at me.

"God, Dad, don't ever say that name around me again. That's taboo around here." I hear thumping down the stairs, letting me know that Josephine is on her way. Maybe she's on her way to my rescue from this horrible situation. She reaches the couch and jumps up on my lap, settling down.

That's right, my support has arrived.

"O-Oh, you're still not on good terms with him?"

"I'm never talking to his stupid ass again."

"Jeanne-bo, watch your mouth."

I throw my head back on the couch exasperatedly and sigh loudly.

"Now, Jeanne, this is serious. I need to know who this boy is and I need to make sure they're good."

Marco's a fucking angel.

"His name is Marco. He moved to Trost just before school started from that one place…with the farms…" Good job, Jeanne. You can't even remember where your boyfriend is from. Fuck, what was it? "Oh wait, Jinae!"

Dad simply watches me as I babble about Marco.

"Oh, I see, so he's not from around here, huh? Jeanne, how is he as a person?"

"U-Uh, he's nice? I mean, he's really sweet and considerate and everyone loves him."

"He hasn't forced you into anything, has he?"

"Oh my god, Dad, no! Not everyone is like that, jeez." This is making me extremely uncomfortable; I need an escape.

Dad stares at me intently, thinking over everything I've said to him. Josephine is asleep on my lap. So much for support.

"Reggie, dear, can you come in here and help me?" Mom graciously calls out from the kitchen.

My mother has fulfilled Josephine's purpose and saved the day. Dad lifts himself up from the couch and pads over to the kitchen, mumbling a "Yes, dear" as he passes the doorway. I hear Mom say something about him not getting off the hook so easily just because he's just come home. God, my dad is so whipped.

I wrench my phone out of my pocket as quickly as possible since I am unable to move from my current position because of a fat cat on my lap. I'll just occupy myself with my phone; hopefully my boyfriend will be waiting for me to text.

The Kirstein family is complete once again and ready for another six months of wacky father-related shenanigans.

I just wish I had someone relatively normal in my family. Dad's just as overprotective, if not more, as Mom is over me. Plus they're both old and, dare I say, _traditional_.

My phone vibrates in my hands, calling me out of my thoughts. To my delight, Marco answers back quickly, exclaiming how excited he is to hear from me. I smile at the little screen and begin typing out a response when my dad scares the holy living shit out of me with his massive sneeze. I jump about five feet in the air, knocking Josephine off of my lap and right onto the floor. Dad grunts and clears his throat in a disgusting manner after he finishes his sneeze and I furiously type out to Marco that he's marking his territory so Marco needs to beware when he comes over.

**From: None pizza with left beef**

** LOL I****'****ll be on my best guard.**

** I know how to deal with overprotective dads**

Godspeed, Marco. You don't know what he's capable of doing.

Sasha is a fucking tool. This girl constantly asks me to come over to her house and spend time with her; I feel so bad for her aunt but at least I'm not a problem child like her.

We didn't really spend much time outside of school together in September and most of October because of my father and the fact that I don't want to deal with his interrogation. In order for Dad to be completely satisfied with my friends, he has to know where they live, what their parents' number is, and he has to actually talk to the parents.

As I said before, I feel bad for Sasha's aunt having to deal with such a spastic girl; I wouldn't want to overload her with my father.

So the withdrawal symptoms are finally catching up to Sasha and she's been bugging me all day to spend some time with her. Sorry, even if my dad wasn't in the equation, I also want to see my boyfriend.

Hmm, yeah, my boyfriend. The gracious freckled fucker gave me his hoodie for the day because it's so goddamn cold outside _and_ in the school. The hoodie is a plain blue with white stripes going down the sleeves and it's so _cozy_. I hope Marco doesn't want this back because I fucking love it.

As I relish in the warmth of this wonderful gift, Sasha starts prodding my arm with her pencil. I turn my attention to her, giving her a disapproving glance as she smiles to me.

"Halloween's coming up and my aunt will be gone for the weekend. You should totally come over."

"Oh no. That's a trap and I'm not falling for it."

"Trap? I'm not trying to trap you."

"Sasha, my dad's going to need to know so much information, all the way to your grandmother's occupation. He'd have to talk to your aunt and if she tells him she won't be there, hell no, he won't let me go."

Sasha pouts and lays her head on the desk, right on her papers.

"But I miss you," she draws out.

"Whoa! Really? Sasha! Jeanne!" Connie calls to us a few decibels too loud, attracting the unwanted attention of some students I don't care about. Marco is unaffected by Connie's sudden outburst as he doesn't even flinch during his conversation with Armin and the enemy.

Fucking Eren. Your ass doesn't deserve the opportunity to talk to him.

Sasha and I look back to the excited Connie and smiling Historia. It's been awhile since we've talked to her but these days she's more focused on her studies and Ymir. Good for her, not being dragged down by Thing One and Thing Two sitting next to us.

"Ymir and I were planning a small get together on Halloween night and it would be fun if the both of you tagged along. We're already doing a double date thing with another couple and it would be cute to have another two sets of couples."

Oh God. Oh God, hanging out…_with Ymir?_ No, no, I see torture and suffering in my near future.

"The other couple is another pair of upperclassmen who are in Ymir's class. They're names are Reiner and Bertholdt."

Connie's eyes light up at the mention of the names.

"Reiner? Like Reiner Braun? Dude! I have been wanting to talk to him since day-fucking-one of this semester." He turns to us, bouncing in his seat. "Guys, we _have_ to go! Think of how popular we'd be hanging out with _upperclassmen!_"

"I honestly don't see the hype in it. Besides, they'd probably be annoyed with you and kick us out." I'm only telling him the harsh reality. They're practically adults compared to us; I doubt they'd enjoy anything we have to offer.

Connie sticks his tongue out at me and I retaliate with a glimpse of my middle finger.

"Now, now, calm down you two," Historia intervenes. "I've already asked the others what they think and they're perfectly okay with the whole arrangement. Ymir's even excited to see you, Jeanne."

I shudder at her words.

Sasha gives me the slyest grin she can muster. "Hey, Jeanne. We can just tell your dad that you're coming over my place and I'll talk to my aunt to cover for us. We can definitely go and hang out finally."

I sigh and put my head in my hand, just watching and listening in on this crazy conversation.

"I still feel uneasy about it. My dad is _really_ good about sniffing out lies."

"Oh shit, what day is Halloween? A Friday, right?" Connie asks no one in particular.

"Yeah, why?"

"That's technically not a weekend day, yeah? Marco should be able to go." Oh yeah, I forgot about Marco's weekend restriction. Well, not really restriction, but he told me once that it's the only time he gets to really spend time with his mom.

Sasha and Connie look at me expectantly, pulling out the puppy dog eyes. I roll my eyes.

"Fine, I'll figure something out with my dad."

Historia claps her hands together but frowns immediately. "O-Oh, wait, can any of you drive or do you have a car to use? I forgot to say…that's the most important thing about this little party. We'll be driving around all night, visiting different places."

The color drains from my face and Connie's once she asks that. Shit, I can't drive and my parents don't own a car and Connie lives in a fucking dorm.

"It's okay, I have a license and my aunt is leaving her car for me," Sasha pipes up, excitedly.

"Wait, what the fuck, where did you get that license from? You have to be sixteen to get one." Sasha gives me a cheeky grin.

"In Dauper, you only have to be fifteen and six months to be eligible for a license. And I just turned sixteen in July, if you don't remember, so I can legally drive in Trost as well."

Well, shit. I often forget that these city-states can be so different on all these policies, especially in the southern part of Rose country.

Historia smiles at Sasha and looks around to Connie and I. "That's great. I'll text you about the details later after class, okay?"

"Okay!"

"And I'll talk to Marco afterwards as well. I'm sure he'd be excited for this."

I'm feeling that same adrenaline rush as I did the day we snuck out of school. Does being this bad always feel so good?

"You have her number right? I'll need to call later and talk to her."

I sigh, handing the paper with Sasha's aunt's number to my dad. I will never understand why he has to act like this when I want to see a friend. Jesus, Dad, it's not like I'm sneaking out or anything.

Whoops.

"I don't mean to rush you but you know Halloween is at the end of the week, I've heard Sasha's aunt is likes to be punctual." I might as well hurry him along so I can tell Sasha the good news.

Provided, there is good news to tell.

Dad just gives me unreadable look and goes back to the papers he's looking over.

"I'll call tonight then, how about that?"

"Sounds good to me." I shrug and head off to my room, back to the wonderful bed and fluffy cat waiting for me. Josephine protests as I climb back into my spot, apparently disrupting her beauty sleep.

Lady, you'll need years of beauty sleep to be decent, don't even start with me.

I pull the covers back over me, loving the extra heat on me, and go back to mindlessly watching TV while waiting for Marco to text back. He's up studying now and that's definitely something I should be doing but I'm not really feeling the honor student vibe.

Yet again, I'm watching some cooking show with an older, charismatic woman. Seriously, why have I been watching these shows recently? I don't fucking cook unless it's absolutely necessary.

An hour or so passes by and I haven't heard back from Marco at all. I think he may have taken a nap or something. He's been doing that a lot recently, the poor thing. But I do hear the sound of my dad's voice downstairs and I sit up slightly, muting the TV, trying to listen in on him.

I can't make out too much but I think he's finally calling Sasha's aunt. Oh God, I just hope she sticks with our little plan and doesn't try to rat me out. Being lectured on the phone by my dad is one thing; being lectured by him in person is a whole other ordeal.

He laughs a few times with her but overall his tone is pretty serious. After what feels to be like ten or so minutes, I hear him say goodbye and hang up the phone. Here it is, the moment of truth. Dad thumps up the stairs, not being graceful about the sound at all and knocks on my door.

I flail in my bed, trying to appear as natural as possible and turn the volume back on. Josephine looks up at me again as I shift around but sprawls back on the bed without protesting.

Good, no comments from the peanut gallery.

"Jeanne-bo, can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah Dad."

Dad opens up the door and steps into my room, clearing his throat. I glance up at him, smiling innocently.

"So what's up?"

"All right, well, I just got off the phone with your friend's aunt and, yes, you have my permission to stay over her place. I just want you back by Sunday morning, okay?"

I am genuinely surprised my dad didn't sniff out the lie like he normally would. Holy shit, Sasha's aunt is officially cool in my book after this.

"Oh! Wow, that's great. Thanks for calling her, Dad…although Mom could have told you Sasha isn't a drug addict or murderer. She's been over the house before."

Dad rolls his eyes again. Okay, seriously, rude. "I still would like to know her too, because I know your mother is a little more lenient about who she lets you hang out with."

I sigh at his parenting skills and he turns to leave my room, finally giving me peace with my fat cat and TV. Sadly, he stops in place and turns his head, giving me a side-eye glance.

"I hope you're not going to sneak your boyfriend over to that house, Jeanne."

"Seriously, Dad? G-Go away!"

I sure hope he didn't catch the lie right now, because it sure as hell is right in front of his face!

He grumbles incoherently and shuts my door behind him, waddling downstairs in the same noisy fashion as he did before. God, how dare you accuse me of doing something wrong when I'm actually doing something wrong.

Parents frustrate me to no end sometimes.

The five of us were so hyped all day in school, we could barely contain ourselves. Connie and Sasha did not shut up about tonight's Halloween affairs; Historia was talking excitedly about some of the stuff we'd do, since she was a part of this last year. Marco and I were excited as well, but we knew how to properly hide it.

Well, Marco still has a long way to go if he wants to get to my level.

Unfortunately, tonight's events don't start until eleven at night, on the dot. So that means we have around eight hours to kill; eight hours that I plan on sleeping so I can stay up all night.

I would have liked to bring Marco over my place and take a nap with him there but I can't really do that with Dad snooping around. He'd have an aneurysm for sure, knowing that a boy would be sleeping in the bed with me. Oh no, a boy? In my bed? So scandalous.

So I asked Marco if I could come to his place.

After a few minutes of hesitation, he agreed.

And that's where I'm heading now. I just don't understand why my heart is pounding in my chest and I feel nervous doing this. Maybe because I've never been over to his place before?

Holy shit, I'm going to see his room for the first time.

"Wow, are your parents really okay with you having a _girl_ over?" I chide Marco and he just smiles at me.

"Yes, Mom is fine with it. I've already asked her."

"Such a good little son. Does she know that you're basically sneaking out tonight?"

Marco sighs. "Unfortunately, no. I had to tell her I was spending time with you, Connie, and Sasha at the dorms all night tonight. I kinda told her that we'd just watch movies."

I poke at his red cheeks, making that infamous "oooooh" sound just like a five year-old would. He gently takes my hand away from his face and twines our fingers together as we get closer to his apartment. Damn you, I was having fun.

"You're such a bad boy, Marco."

"A bad boy, huh? Next thing you know, I'll start showing up to school with a black leather jacket and my hair sli –" Marco stops abruptly and kind of stares off in space, his face looking like he did something wrong.

"M-Marco, are you oka –"

"Haha, oh man, I can't see myself as a bad boy. It's so strange just thinking about it." Marco completely interrupts me, rubbing his nose nervously with his free hand. "O-Oh look, w-we're here!" He points up to the complex to our right.

I keep my gaze on him a little longer but he seems to be completely ignoring his small meltdown. Unfortunately, I have to let this go and not ask anything.

But what the hell was wrong with what he said?

Marco and I go through the doors of the complex and head up the stairs that are to the left of the entrance. It's cold as hell in here, even colder than the weather outside. It's also eerily quiet inside the building; I'm almost afraid to sneeze in case I might suffer the wrath of an angry neighbor.

It also doesn't help that our steps echo all throughout the hallway as we make our way up the stairs. Marco lives on the damn third floor so it's almost like we have to hike just to get to his place. I live on the third floor of my place as well, but the difference with my place is that there aren't these many stairs. Marco climbs up like a champ, however; he's going on ahead of me like this is nothing to him.

No wonder his damn legs look so nice.

We get up to room 3-7 and Marco fishes for his house keys in his never-ending pockets. Why can't my jeans have those wonderful pockets? I think I would seriously kill to have those pockets in my jeans.

Marco unlocks the door swiftly and without any further trouble and holds the door open for me, gesturing for me to enter first.

"After you, m'lady."

You gross fucker.

I offer an exaggerated bow and step inside. This is it. I am finally in Marco's living space and it really looks nice, much to my surprise.

Well…not that I was thinking it was too shitty or that his family would be too poor to afford a nice place. Ah shit, I should just stop talking; Marco might be a mind reader.

The first thing you see upon entering is a cozy little living room with a small grey sofa just a few feet away from a nice looking TV. It looks like it's about the same size as the one in my room, maybe about 32 inches or so. It also seems pretty new because it's extremely clean and looks as if it has barely been touched.

Marco walks on ahead of me into the small hallway in front of us and quietly opens the door all the way at the end, poking his head inside. He flashes a smile and closes the door, motioning for me to come down. I jump slightly, realizing it's time to move and head on over to the door he points to; which I assume to be his room.

"Marco?" A quiet voice comes from our right. Both Marco and I freeze, the blood draining from our faces as we slowly turn to look in the kitchen next to us.

"O-Oh, hey there," Marco says sheepishly. We both head into the kitchen, greeting the woman sitting at the table with a white mug. I think this must be Marco's mom; I mean, she has the freckles and the short, shoulder length black hair to boot.

What throws me off, however, are her liquid blue eyes. They're really pretty, but they don't seem too inviting. Fuck, I'll need to introduce myself.

"Hello, Mrs. Bodt, my na-" She spits her drink back into her mug just as she's taken a sip of it. What the hell?

"Ah, Auntie, are you okay?" _Auntie_?

She pats her chest a few times and waves off Marco, signaling that she's fine. After coughing and clearing her throat, she turns her attention towards me.

"No, no, you got that all wrong. I'm this boy's aunt, _not_ a Bodt." She gives me a small wave, making no attempt to leave her seat. "The name's Melody Bishara."

"Uh, yeah, Jeanne Kirstein."

Melody raises an eyebrow before looking over to a sweating and nervous Marco.

"Does your mother know you're sneaking girls over or am I gonna have to be the bearer of bad news?"

Marco flails his hands frantically. "N-No, oh no, please don't Auntie! S-She's only h-here because w-we're going out later tonight!"

This situation is so tense, holy shit. And the way she's looking at us, I can't even tell if she's serious or completely apathetic. I'm really glad this woman is not his mother; then again, where is his mother and what is she even like?

"Mhm." She nods and takes another sip of her drink, finally looking away from us. "All right, I'll let you off the hook. I'm about to head out anyway."

At this, Marco gets closer to me, gently putting his hand on my back.

"So you came over without Mom even knowing, _again_?"

Jesus, again. What kind of life does his aunt live?

I wish Marco would hurry this up because I feel excessively awkward and uneasy just standing here. How was I supposed to fucking know he snuck me over? I mean, damn, at least I tell Mom in passing that Marco's stopping by.

Melody gets up from the table and carefully rinses out the white mug before placing it in the dishwasher just to her left.

"It's not my fault she works all night and sleeps all day." She pushes her chair in and grabs her bag and throws her light brown leather jacket over her arm. "Behave you two. Don't make me regret not telling Mama Bear."

Marco and I step out of the way as she walks off to the door, giving us a quick, good-bye wave and stepping out. Marco finally lets out a breath he probably didn't know he was holding and relaxes, taking his hand away from my back.

"Damn, I didn't know she'd be here. Thank God she didn't cause trouble for us." He starts rubbing the back of his neck. I shrug and opt for smiling at him. I have honestly no idea what to say to that.

We got fucking caught. That's it.

"Shall we go to sleep now? I wanna hurry up just in case Mom decides to wake up and say hello to us."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful actually."

Marco offers me a warm smile before going on ahead and leading me to his room. We glance over at the door just off to the side, assuming it's his mother's room, and when we hear nothing, we quickly go inside.

Wow.

Marco's room is tiny.

The room is crammed with a huge bed, probably a queen size, an old, wooden desk, and a similar looking dresser adjacent to it. It's crowded and clustered; however, it's like an organized cluster.

If that even makes sense.

"Heh, sorry I didn't really get a chance to clean it up yet," Marco apologizes, laying his bag on the ground next to his desk.

"Nah, it's all right. I'm not too picky." Taking in the sight of this room is actually very interesting because there's always something new I see.

What catches my eye first is the pile of books scattered on Marco's desk and underneath it that have some strange letters on them. Another language?

Hot damn, I got me a cultured boyfriend.

Wait a minute! So he is foreign after all! That explains why he didn't fucking burn in the sun like I did at the beach.

But I'll ask him about that later. I walk a little farther into his room, not that there's much more to walk across, and examine his other belongings. Right on the bed is that is that plush unicorn I won for him back on our first date.

Awww, he sleeps with it. I throw a sly smirk at Marco once he notices me looking at the toy. He blushes and turns his head away from me, the bashful cutie.

Oh? Right between his dresser and bed is a small nightstand wedged in between. It has typical things on it, such as a lamp, a fairly new alarm clock and a picture frame. Now I'm curious.

"Hey, Marco? Can I look at this?" I figure I should ask before grabbing anything but I really hope he lets me. Marco's smile drops suddenly as he looks down to the object I'm pointing at and remains quiet, mulling over my request.

"U-Uh, sure. Just be careful, okay?"

Shit.

I lift it up gently, upon his request, and examine the photograph inside the frame. It's just a simple family photo and oh my god, is that little Marco?

_It__'__s little baby Marco._

Holy shit, look at those fat little cheeks, he's so goddamn adorable.

"Awww, babe, look at you. You were so cute!"

"Why the past tense?" He scoffs at me.

"Because now you're good looking. And a dork." I laugh and he sticks his tongue at me before heading over to the bed and sitting down on the edge, reclining back on his hands.

I go back to the photograph, studying it more, paying special attention to what I assume are Marco's parents. His mother is smiling brightly, just like Marco does now, and is holding on lovingly to her husband and son. And shit, she looks just like Marco's aunt Melody that was just here. I guess they're twins but they look a little different, especially with their hairstyles. His mother has her hair long and pulled back into a ponytail.

Plus, she just looks nicer than the other one.

Little Marco is smiling just as wide, holding his arms up and I guess having the time of his life in his dad's arms.

And now speaking of his dad, I have never seen a more attractive man in my entire life. I'm talking about the fact that my fucking heart just skipped a beat when I looked at him more closely. He's got a gorgeous, pearly white smile and he's built.

_Just look at those muscles, holy fuck._

Marco, I'm so glad you take a lot from your dad. Your muscles look amazing as well.

In fact, Marco has a lot from his dad, more so than his mom. He's got his mom's hair color, bright, reassuring smile and her freckles, definitely; however, he's built more like his dad, has the same dark, chocolaty brown eyes as him and…is that?

The same round nose.

This man in the picture, who looks like a fucking Greek god, has the most unfitting nose. I wish he was here so I could flick it just like Marco's.

Speaking of him, he reaches up and lightly pulls on my sleeve, wanting my attention.

"Hmm, yeah babe?"

"Jeannie, I'm sleepy. Let's hurry and take our nap."

"Aww, but I wanna keep looking at your cutie baby face." Shit, I realize I've been standing this whole time. Let's fix that.

I sit right next to Marco, still holding onto the picture.

"So your mom's here sleeping. Where's your dad?"

The look Marco gives me makes me regret those words immediately. His eyes widen and he just stares before looking to the ground quickly.

"U-Uh, h-he's at work."

"W-Where? If I may ask?"

Marco sighs, quietly replying, "Far away."

"Oh? Oh! Kinda like how my dad goes off for the army every six months? Yeah, I know how you must feel, not having him around a lot." I put the picture back on his nightstand carefully, just as it was before I saw it.

"I-It's a little different, eh…" His voice slowly trails off. "Oh, you know what? It's fine, lets just relax, yeah?"

The smile he gives me is the saddest one I've ever seen.

Before I can say anymore, Marco shifts his body and grabs onto mine, laying us both down onto his bed with his arms wrapped around me. I'm surprised at first but I quickly settle into his arms and nuzzle closer to him. Marco reaches down, grabbing his thick, dark blue comforter and throwing it over us.

For once, I'm content with the silence. It's comfortable.

So is Marco.

He's the first one to lie still and close his eyes, ready for sleep. I, on the other hand, want to get one more little fun activity in before I drift off.

The unicorn!

I slowly take one arm off of Marco and grope around behind me for the stuffed animal. As soon as I feel the soft material, I grab it and lightly whack Marco on the shoulder with it. He opens his eyes with a jolt and starts laughing.

"What was that for?"

"I can't believe you sleep with this unicorn."

Marco tries to give me a serious look but he can barely hold back his giggles. "I don't cuddle it every night."

I laugh out loud. What a fucking nerd.

"Aha! Marco confirmed for plush cuddler!"

I whack him one more time before he grabs it and puts it back behind me.

"Oh hush you. At least I won't have to snuggle with it now that you're here." He pulls me closer and kisses my forehead and the tip of my nose. I pout and look away because that was too cute for me. I can't handle this boy sometimes.

"Okay, I confess. I wish Josephine was here with me. She's been with me since I was born and it feels a little weird not having her curl up at my stomach or my feet." I really love my sweet, little baby. Marco smiles and kisses me again.

"Who knew that you're such a cat person."

"Yeah, I know. Josephine's a one of a kind cat, though, so maybe that's my reason for liking cats. I just like her."

All right, no more games. It really is sleep time now because we need to be up again by at least ten tonight and it's a little past four now.

I give Marco a quick kiss on the lips before settling down once more. He smiles at me and does the same, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around me.

It's so warm and comfortable; I have no trouble falling asleep at all.

Marco's alarm sounds off at 10:30, causing us to jump and immediately scramble to turn it off, knocking over a few items off of his nightstand.

Holy shit, I feel like death right now. I can't believe we actually slept that entire time without waking up. School must have drained us today.

"G'morning, sunshine," Marco mumbles, letting out a big yawn as he stretches. I repeat the motion because of his stupid yawning and sit up in the bed.

I don't wanna get up; this bed is too nice to ever leave.

However, my boyfriend sees things differently and hoists himself out of the bed, turning on the light for the room. Fortunately my eyes were closed and I wasn't too blinded, but Marco apologizes anyway. He rummages through his bag until he finds his phone and looks through it.

"Sasha sent us both messages, apparently. Her first few hundred telling us to wake up." He laughs and scrolls through it some more. "And then she said they'll be here just a few minutes before eleven."

"Fun, fun," I say before letting out a big yawn again. Ugh, I have to get up and change and that's just too much drama for me right now. I throw the covers off of me and move my legs over the side of the bed.

All right, step one complete.

"Can I use your bathroom to change, Marco?" He peers up to me.

"Oh, uh, sure. You're not gonna wear what you are now?"

I shake my head. "Do you really think Sasha would let me celebrate our first Halloween together without doing something stupid? We're wearing matching outfits."

"Oh." Marco blushes a light pink and opens his door for me. "The, uh, the bathroom is just down the hall on your left, just before the kitchen."

With a nod, I grab my bag and head down the hallway, using Marco's directions to get there. I flick on the lights and close the door behind me.

It's a cute little white bathroom with navy blue towels. I'm starting to wonder if Marco's favorite color is blue or if his mother likes it as well.

I can't believe Sasha is making me do this. I can't believe I'm allowing myself to do this.

I swiftly take off my shirt and my jeans, making sure to fold them neatly so they'll fit back in my bag with no problem. While taking out the new clothes, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror to my left.

Well, hello there.

Okay, now is really not the time to dance around in your underwear _in Marco__'__s fucking bathroom_, Jeanne.

This outfit isn't too bad I guess. Sasha and I went and bought them on the same day, so they're completely identical.

The first thing I grab is the long-sleeved, black and white T-shirt and I throw that over my head immediately. Next up is, oh lord, the black skirt.

A short and frilly skirt I might add.

Jesus, Sasha, it's fucking October; do you even know how fucking cold it is outside?

Whatever, I slide it on and fix the shirt over it, smoothing it out.

From the bathroom door, I can hear Marco walking around a bit and getting ready himself. I hope he doesn't think he needs to change just because I am, the poor boy.

I finish the outfit off with leggings and a black leather jacket. Shit, as much as I complained about putting it on, I look amazing right now. Oh, I almost forgot.

Sasha insists that I wear my hair in a pony tail, just like hers, so that we match completely.

Well, I have to keep the queen happy, so here we go.

I look hysterical.

I carefully open the door to the bathroom and peak my head out. No sign of Marco and his door is closed still.

Fuck.

I tiptoe out with the bag in hand and knock a few times on his bedroom door. He opens it up and is completely at a loss for words when he sees me. Is this a good thing?

"Hi there. Are you ready?"

"Y-Yeah, l-lemme just…my phone and, uh…" His voice trails off but his eyes never leave mine. Look at all this power I have over him.

"Need any help finding them? You seem a bit flustered there, babe."

"Hush."

I chuckle delightfully as he turns on his heel and grabs his necessary items, like his phone and wallet. Marco grabs a grey hoodie, putting it on and zips it up about halfway.

Good, he didn't really change clothes.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, yeah." Marco whirls around and turns off the lights in his room before we both leave. I offer him a smile but he can barely look at me. Oh my god, Marco, this outfit isn't even that skimpy, get a grip.

Marco looks around the apartment briefly, making sure everything is in its proper place and that he hasn't forgotten anything. He finally flashes me a quick smile and nods.

"All right, we're out."

We step out of the apartment with Marco locking the door behind us, double checking it just before we leave.

Sasha and Connie are waiting for us outside the complex and I'm honestly shocked because Sasha is _never_ on time.

Wait, what the fuck. This isn't her aunt's jeep.

What the fuck is this shit.

Sasha leaves the car running and steps out, wearing the matching outfit, and runs over to hug us both.

"Happy Halloween! Are you guys excited?" Her voice is just as high and enthusiastic as normal.

Marco laughs along with her, just soaking up her good mood. "Yeah, we're really excited. This'll be so much fun!"

Sasha squeals when she looks at me finally. "You're wearing it! Yes!"

I can't help but smile at her. Taking a step back, I twirl around, letting the skirt flow naturally, and show it off to her. She claps her hands excitedly, bouncing up to hug me again. Jesus, it's Halloween, no need to be so emotional.

"Okay, come on, let's go. They're waiting for us by the school!" Sasha turns around and opens the back door for us. Meanwhile, Connie rolls the window down and calls out to us from the front seat.

"Hell yeah! This is gonna be awesome!"

Something looks off though.

Something looks _really_ off.

Marco gestures for me to get into the car first before sliding inside himself. Where the hell did Sasha get this fucking car. This is a black sports car, not a rickety old jeep.

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice fucking car. The inside is all black interior, it's got a nice radio, and the heat is nice and toasty.

"Connie. Sasha. Who did you rob for this car? Because if this is stolen I'm leaving right now," I tell them with all seriousness in my voice. Sasha and Connie look at each other, giggling like little schoolchildren.

Oh no.

Sasha waves at me dismissively. "My aunt has two cars, Jeanne. She took the Jeep for her trip and left me with her nice one." She settles in completely, putting her foot on the brake and shifting gears to drive. Damn, I didn't know Sasha's aunt was well off. Although she didn't seem to have any kids or a husband, so she must be living the nice single life.

The engine runs smoothly as we drive along the main road towards our school and the ride itself is comfortable and smooth. I think I want this car. Marco reaches over and links our hands, smiling at me.

What a nerd.

I offer him a smile before gazing out the window at the yellow and orange lights shining from the street lamps. Some buildings have their own Halloween decorations, mainly orange and purple lights spread out across them. A few lucky people with balconies have some cutesy little bats and ghosts set up.

That shit isn't scary at all.

And to my surprise, a lot of people are still out and about. I guess they're all going for their own parties as well; who knows, I've never been out on Halloween this late before.

Within a few minutes, we drive up to the front of the school to see another group of large teenagers standing outside of a beat up, old station wagon.

Do they…do they still make those?

Sasha parks just behind their car, gaining their attention. I recognize Historia and Ymir, but I'm not so sure about those big, burly men next to them. They're those upperclassmen Connie was fangirling over, yeah?

Sasha and Connie exit the car first and Marco gets out, running over to my side and opening the door for me. As I step out, I hear a chorus of "aw's" and other gross noises from the group on the other side.

Fucking hell, Marco.

"Aw, what a gentleman!"

Shut the fuck up, Connie.

We join the group and Ymir smirks at me, so I give her a small wave and go to crossing my arms. She's got her arm around Historia's shoulders, holding her close, and leans over to kiss the side of her head. As much as Ymir frightens me sometimes, at least she's really sweet to her girlfriend.

I still have no idea how they got together.

And before I can think more about their situation, Ymir speaks up, voicing her confusion.

"Why are you two wearing the same outfits?"

Oh yeah.

"It's our Halloween costume. We're going as twins."

Ymir snickers and Historia swats her arm, quietly chiding her.

"Don't worry about her. I think it's really cute!" She looks us over one more time before instantly remembering something. "Oh yes, guys, I need to introduce everyone. I'm so sorry."

She takes Ymir's arm from around her, earning her a pout from the taller woman, and walks over to the other two.

"Everyone. This is Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover. You two, this is Connie, Sasha, Jeanne, and Marco." She points to each of us as she names us off. Connie basically leaps onto Reiner and gives him a big hug. Reiner, the large blonde with the ruddy face, just laughs and hugs him right back.

I lean over to Sasha and whisper, "Be careful, Sasha. I think your man might be interested in someone else." Sasha rolls her eyes and snatches Connie before he suffocates the older teen. Reiner seems like a real down to earth kind of guy; I like him already.

The one next to him, Bertholdt, seems quiet and awkward. He's just calmly glancing over to everyone, smiling when we accidentally make eye contact. He doesn't seem like much of a talker, unlike his friend over there.

"Ah, yes, I hope you don't mind my boyfriend here, he's a bit shy," Reiner exclaims as he puts his hand on Bertholdt's arm.

I'm sorry, I stand corrected. His boyfriend.

I guess it's time for the all important question. What exactly are going to fucking do? Apparently Marco was thinking the same thing as me and beats me to asking.

"So, what exactly are we doing tonight?"

Reiner peers up to him, his eyebrows raised, before squinting at Ymir. "You didn't even tell them?"

Ymir holds her hands up in defense. "I actually never spoke to them. I just got my little messenger to tell them they were invited." Historia flashes her a look.

Before anything else goes on, Reiner steps closer to our little circle that we've absentmindedly formed and looks at Marco. "Don't worry about anything. It's a clean, safe little drive around the town and anywhere else we decide to go. Us four have done this for a few years now, so it's good." The street lamp just above us really brings out his golden eyes.

This time, his boyfriend speaks up, surprising us all. "Mostly we just drive around and stop at places we might find interesting. And if any of you have a place o-or see something, you can always tell us and we'll stop."

I think he just filled his speech quota because his voice trails off and he looks down at the ground, rubbing his hands nervously.

Reiner pats Bertholdt's shoulder, chuckling as he speaks. "And don't worry. If you decide to ride with us, I'll make sure Bertl here doesn't drive." As Reiner talks, I huddle over to Marco for warmth and he eagerly holds me close to him.

"Oh, you should have seen it. One of the first times Bertl got into the car, he forgot to put it in reverse and he drove right through the wall of his parents' garage."

Bertholdt looks at his boyfriend in utter horror as he describes the story. Damn, I'm feeling so hard for him right now. Thankfully, Marco isn't much of a loudmouth like him.

"Okay, you fuckers, stop talking and let's drive. I'm fucking freezing out here," Ymir calls out over Reiner's booming voice. "Come on, Reiner and Bertl are with me; you guys, go in your car."

Connie makes a high-pitched noise, knowing he won't get to ride with big brother Reiner. Sasha and I drag him back to our car, with Reiner calling back to us, telling us to just follow them. We file back into the car, in our same spots, and Sasha turns the key in the ignition, bringing the engine to life.

Their car pulls out onto the road first, going slow so we can start up just behind them.

Marco once again twines our fingers together and we check out the night life of Trost from the window.

"Hey, I forgot to mention that we have candy up front if you're hungry for a snack," Connie calls back to us, searching through a plastic bag up front. "It is Halloween after all, so we can pig out."

"Oh, you got any chocolate?" Marco leans forward on Connie's seat and looks at the choices. He grabs two Reese's for us and hands one to me, smiling at me like a child. I accept it graciously, remembering that Marco and I never ate anything after lunch.

Ah, chocolate and peanut butter, you can never go wrong in that department.

I unwrap the small, pumpkin-shaped candy and finish it off in two bites. Fuck, I guess tonight is a sugar rush night.

We've been driving through Trost for about twenty minutes now and I haven't heard anything from Historia. I was designated as the official liaison between this car and theirs. Well, they know what they're doing, and I know there's not many things in Trost that are too exciting.

Then again, I'm only fifteen, so I haven't been able to experience all of Trost yet.

I sigh and continue looking out of the window, watching random pedestrians walking and laughing, enjoying time with their friends. Some people are out in costumes, and overall it's a fun atmosphere.

Connie's going on about the horror movies he and Sasha watched earlier instead of sleeping. Some bloody, gory shit that I just do _not_ want to even listen to.

Marco looks extremely uncomfortable as well and he politely asks to change the subject; Connie's idea of a subject change goes from gory horror movies to more suspenseful ones. Good job.

Before I have time to cringe at these gross horror stories, something catches my eye. I've seen this building already. And those decorations and lights.

What the fuck, we've been driving in circles for twenty minutes?

I reach for my phone and punch in a text to Historia, asking her what exactly is going on here. Within minutes, she replies, telling me that they're still trying to figure out where to stop first because Reiner is an indecisive driver. That's a shocker.

Shit, maybe I should start throwing out ideas then.

"Hey, what the fuck do you guys wanna do? They're asking for ideas." The car is silent except for the radio that's going on about some Halloween parties downtown. I see the gears turning in everyone's head but no one's talking.

"What's something we haven't done in awhile?" Sasha pipes up.

"We haven't gone to Taco Bell for some time."

"Connie, we're not fucking going to Taco Bell."

There's silence again after I've shut Connie down. I've had enough chicken quesadillas to last me a lifetime.

Unfortunately, he doesn't stay quiet for long.

"Oh, damn! Jeanne, does Trost have a bowling alley?"

That's a pretty good idea, Connie, you go!

"Yeah, we do actually. You guys up for that?" I ask, looking at Marco. Sasha voices her approval and Marco nods, doing the same. I text Historia back, asking how they all would feel about going bowling. I haven't been in so long; it's really exciting.

Historia messages back in no time, saying that everyone agreed to our little proposal.

Halloween bowling it is!

Trost's bowling alley is on the complete opposite side, away from where we all live, so it took us another fifteen or so minutes to drive there. It's just about midnight now, so we'll have about two hours of throwing gutter balls.

We park right next to the station wagon and reunite outside of the bowling alley. Our group heads on inside and I relish in the warmth of the building. It's just way too cold outside. Other than the temperature, we're greeted with the sound of people cheering and balls knocking into pins at different times.

Connie and Reiner head to the front desk first, with us all following in tow. Marco's next to me on my right, holding my hand and Bertholdt is on my left and I have never felt so short in my life. I'm sandwiched between two tall men. This is not fair.

Everyone gets their shoes and we get to our assigned lanes. We've got two hours to kill, so this should be fun.

Bowling is always a great start to a nighttime adventure. Too bad I've never gone bowling once in my life.

Maybe my softball years could help me a little bit.

After we've settled at our tables and put our shoes on, Ymir leans over the railing separating the seating area from the lanes, smirking devilishly at all of us.

"I propose a challenge for you all."

Oh boy.

"How about we split off into teams? Four against four and whoever loses has to treat the winners to breakfast in the morning."

She sounds so confident in this challenge; I want to go her team. So even if I fuck up in every way imaginable, maybe she can save us. But shit, Reiner seems like he's amazing in bowling as well. Who the fuck do I choose?

Before I can say anything, a pair of hands land roughly on my shoulder. I whip my head around and see a freckled face different from the one I'm normally close to.

"Hi, Ymir."

"Hey, little Jeanne-bo, did you wanna be on my team?" I turn to Marco for any sign of approval. He just shrugs at me, wearing a nervous smile on his face.

"Shit, that's okay with me because I wanna be on Reiner's team anyway!" Connie shouts out like I give a fuck. Reiner lets out a hearty, boisterous laugh and pats Connie on the back pretty hard.

"I like his spirit. I could use a guy like you on my team."

The look on Connie's face is the most hilarious thing I have ever seen in my life. This boy looks as if the heavens had just opened up for him, granting him his one and only earthly desire.

I sit back in my chair and let Ymir and Reiner handle putting everyone's names into the correct lanes and teams. I prop my legs up on Marco's lap and flash him a toothy grin. He just laughs and pats my shin with his hand.

"So, you got any more hidden talents? You know, like you did at the toss booth that one time, Jeannie?"

_Shit._

"Maybe. Shhh!" I put a finger to my lips, attempting to shush Marco before he realizes I'm going to do poorly.

"All right," Ymir calls over. "Historia, you're going first and then Jeanne's after you." Historia nods and gracefully walks down to Ymir, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before turning to choose her ball. Ymir blushes and kicks at the ground, mumbling about how cute she is.

"Aww, what a cutie. Historia's picking up a six pound ball," Reiner muses as Historia grabs of the lightweight blue ball. She offers him an angelic smile before positioning herself just a few feet before the lane.

Wow, she looks insanely professional.

After a few second pause, Historia steps out with her right foot first, taking the hand with the ball behind her and releasing it just before the line onto the lane. The ball rolls quickly down the lane in a blue blur, spinning right into the center pins.

All but two are knocked over but they're side by side.

"Go for the spare, Historia!" Ymir calls out to her. Meanwhile, the other team watch respectfully before sending Connie out for his first turn while Historia waits for her blue ball to return.

Connie clumsily grabs a green ball with his left hand and it seems to be too heavy for him because he almost drops it. He waddles over to the first set of lines, disregarding trying to line himself up with the pins, and rushes forward. He throws the ball down hard, landing with a loud bang, and it slowly rolls across the lane.

It hits the right side of the pins and knocks down about five or six of them. I look over to Reiner's team to see how they're handling this hideous display. I honestly can't tell if Reiner is hiding his disappointment or if he's genuinely encouraging our tiny friend. Bertholdt has a small smile on his face and Sasha is clapping. Connie turns around to his team and bows.

Loser.

"SPARE! Yeah, baby!" Ymir shouts, causing Marco and I to nearly jump out of our seats. Shit, I was so focused on dumbass Connie that I forgot to watch my own teammate. Historia walks back to Ymir, who lifts her up off the ground into a big hug. She kisses her before putting her down and calls for me to come forward.

Oh.

_Oh._ Here it is.

I take my legs off of Marco's lap and slowly stand, smoothing my skirt down. Marco gives me his trademark smile and I can't help but feel the impending doom of letting him down.

It's okay, Jeanne. You just watched Historia bowl and she looked like she knew what she was doing. Just copy that!

Fuck, I just wish we had something to cover those gutters. I can tell I'll be throwing the ball straight into one of those each time.

Ymir pats me on the back as I step down and choose a ball. Here, this red one isn't so bad and by the big number seven on it, it's only seven pounds.

Only.

Taking a shaky breath, I slide my fingers of my left hand inside the three holes and lift the ball up. On the other side, Bertholdt gets ready to bowl and I offer him to go first.

You can do this, Jeanne. You're the best and you're gonna show everyone up.

You'll be the queen of bowling!

Hell yeah.

Bertholdt seems skilled as well, holding the ball in his right hand, keeping himself steady. He slowly creeps forward and throws the ball down, making it spin down the lane, knocking over all the pins.

This son of a bitch.

Reiner's voice echoes as he calls out the "first strike".

I look back at the long lane before me and goddammit, it's just taunting me right now. I make the mistake of turning back and looking at Marco. Sweet, innocent Marco. He's smiling at me so wide and I'm gonna fuck this up.

All right, I hold the ball up with some resistance and stare into the abyss. I start walking forward carefully and let my arm drop with the ball in hand still. I get to the lane and just throw the ball haphazardly onto the slick, wooden floor. The ball thuds against the wood and rolls straight into the gutter,

The bowling alley feels quiet. Unnervingly quiet.

I slowly turn around and see Marco trying to be supportive and smiling but it's Ymir's face that makes me wish I hadn't turned around. The disbelief and disappointment in her face is surreal.

Fortunately, Reiner and Bertholdt were talking amongst themselves, so they missed my horrible display, but Connie and Sasha watched the whole thing. To my surprise, they're not laughing at me.

They just look so uncomfortable and worried in a way.

Oh boy.

My ball comes back to me and reluctantly reach for it again. Reiner approaches the next lane, ready for his turn and gestures for me to finish my turn. Fuck, now he's looking too.

I rush for the lane and throw the ball out again; this time, it doesn't land in the gutter and I manage to knock down one pin.

Success!

I can hear clapping from behind and I don't even have to turn around to know that it's Marco. I turn around and head back for the tables before Reiner or anyone else has anything to say to me. Ymir continues to give me that look.

I really don't want to lose. Especially not to Sasha and Connie. I would _never_ hear the end of it. I'll just have to try better next time.

Dammit! I can't blame anyone but myself because it was my stupid idea to come here. Wait…No! It's Connie's fault!

Okay, fine, I'll share the blame with him.

Marco gives me a sweet kiss on the cheek in passing as he steps down for his turn. I throw myself onto the chair and lean back comfortably.

Marco and Reiner talk and laugh about something before Reiner finishes up his turn. I'm honestly shocked that he didn't get a strike or spare or whatever those things are called.

I'm almost jealous, however. Marco can strike up a conversation with anyone and instantly get along with them. For me, it's a hit or a miss. I'm lucky to even have Thing One and Thing Two spending so much time with me.

Ugh, finally, Marco stops talking and focuses on the lane in front of him. He pauses for a brief moment before steadily moving forward and releasing the ball. It's not exactly centered but it knocks down a good amount of pins. Ymir trots up to him, giving him some obscure advice on how to pick off the remaining pins, while Reiner teases her, telling her to leave Marco alone.

Sasha's also taking her turn and she's just as sloppy as Connie is at bowling. Except all these fuckers never landed their ball into the gutter.

I will forever remain salty over this.

Sadly, Marco doesn't manage to knock down every pin but he doesn't look that discouraged. He just waves it off like normal and has a good laugh with Ymir before stepping up to the tables with me.

"Good job there, freckles. You did me proud."

"Oh, hush, Jeannie. You'll do fine after you've gotten the hang of it."

_If_ I ever do.

Ymir's up next for our team and she's raring to go. Out of everyone, she takes the longest to set up and position herself before the lane. She bounces a bit, stretches up, and even moves the ball around between her hands before keeping it in her left. She takes a deep breath before making her way to the lane, effortlessly releasing the ball.

The ball curves down the slick lane in a controlled route before ending at the center, effectively knocking over each pin.

"Strike! Yes! Suck it, Bertl!" Ymir shouts out, pointing at the other team's direction.

Up next is Historia again and, wow, we've finally gotten through everyone once and it felt like an eternity.

I almost wish for these two hours to go by fast so we can move onto something else.

One game down. One more to go.

Needless to say, I was downright awful but hey, at least we managed to stay in the lead.

By one point.

I had to have Ymir come down and give me the same pep talk over and over. Eventually she just threatened to blackmail me with baby pictures that I'm still insanely curious about as to how she got ahold of them. I hope to God that my mother didn't give them to her back when she was babysitting me.

Speaking of Ymir, she bowled a perfect game last round. She got all strikes on all of the…frames, as I believe they're called. Historia had a mixed bag of spares and just regular turns. I think she managed one or two strikes.

Marco's pretty decent as well, making a few spares but nothing more spectacular than that.

And then there's me. The gutter ball queen.

Ymir's bowling again, so I'm spending some quality time with Marco at the table, just picking at his hand.

"Are you having fun, Jeannie?"

"Mmm, yeah I guess. I just wish I didn't have to embarrass myself in front of everyone."

He takes my hand to his lips and kisses it gently.

"It's all for fun. I'm sure no one will think about it too much. Besides," he speaks softly, "they seem like they go bowling a lot, so don't let that get to you too much."

Reiner pulls out a chair and settles down at our table.

"Hey, do you guys want any drinks or food? Your buddies were starting to get hungry so I figured I'd treat everyone."

Marco and I blink a few times before smiling and nodding.

"Sure, that sounds great. Just, uh," Marco's voice trails off.

"What's up?"

"You're not planning on bringing, like, alcohol over, right?"

Reiner lets out a hearty guffaw and pats Marco on the shoulder a few times.

"Oh man, I don't know what you've heard about me but don't worry, this is a sober party." Reiner smiles reassuringly. "I'm really not sure why people think I'll bust out the booze at any party I throw. I'm totally against that."

Marco lets out a sigh of relief as Reiner gets up to get our snacks and drinks. I feel sorry for him, though; treating Sasha and Connie to food and drink will get extremely expensive.

Oh, look, Connie must have heard me think about him because here he is, sitting right in the chair Reiner just was moments ago.

"Okay, Jeanne, listen, you gotta step your game up."

"What the fuck."

"I didn't know you're a total beginner so I'm willing to help you out, okay?"

"You're on the other team, dumbass." I glance at him suspiciously, trying to find an ulterior motive. Ah, Connie's not like that all; what am I thinking?

"Yeah, I know, but it's just so painful watching you. I wanna help a friend out, yeah?"

I lean on the table, my face in my hand, and show him that I'm listening intently. I do want the help but I'll never admit that. Marco listens as well just to see how credible Connie's advice will be.

"Rule number one! Don't just throw the ball at random; you gotta aim for that shit." Connie emphasizes his words with sporadic hand gestures.

Thankfully we're seated pretty far apart by this table, otherwise I'd have to back up from fear of being hit. Sadly, I can't say the same for Marco, as he's currently inching away from Connie.

"And, uh, rule number two!" Connie pauses, holding his finger up, clearly in deep thought. He puts his hand down and looks off to the side. "Wait, the fuck was the second rule?"

"Jeanne, stop fucking around with the enemy and pay attention! It's your turn now," Ymir hollers at me from the lane as Historia finishes her turn. Fucking hell.

"Wait, wait. Okay, rule number two is to not freak out, okay?"

I give him a sideways glance before heading back down for my doom of a turn. It's the beginning of the second game and I've already scored a total of one point. Just like fucking last time.

I grab the same ball as before and stand at the arrows before the lane. Connie said try and aim, right? I should be able to do that already.

I just need to take this slowly.

After a short pause and feeling incredibly confident, I walk down to the lane and throw the ball down hard.

I threw it _too hard_.

The ball bounces right off of the gutter with a metallic clang, and hops over into the other lane.

I have never felt so fucking mortified in my life as I do right now. I pray for a swift, painless end.

The ball continues rolling down the other lane, eventually sliding right into the gutter and staying there as it crosses the lane.

I'm think I'm just going to slowly walk away now; I'll slowly walk outside and just change my name and never look at everyone here again. Goodbye, Marco, I'm so sorry.

"At least she aimed…somewhat," I hear Connie call from the table.

I finally turn around and see Ymir squatting down and holding her head, the epitome of disappointment. At least big guy Reiner wasn't here to see this shameful display.

But I have to finish my turn. I hastily grab another ball and throw it down the lane; this time I manage to stay in my own lane and not land in a gutter. A few pins are knocked over and I still have one more go. Goddammit, I just want to run away.

My original ball returns and take it in my hand one more time. Okay, concentrate, Jeanne. Don't ever fuck up like that again. The remaining pins are all clustered together so I have a very small chance of knocking them over.

Provided I don't knock the next lane's pins over.

I try to keep myself steady as I stand there holding my ball. I just need to really concentrate this time.

I take a cautious step forward and continue down just before the lane and release the ball. By some miracle it doesn't land straight into the gutter and it looks like I'll hit the pins.

Holy shit, I might hit them.

The next sound is the satisfying sound of pins being knocked over very slowly.

I fucking hit them.

And without realizing it, I have my eyes shut tight until the group behind me shouts out praises.

I hit _all of them._

I turn around and look straight at Marco, throwing my hands up into the air. He's got his big, stupid grin on his face but I don't care. I got one of those spare things! Even Ymir looks fucking happy.

I rush back over to my table and throw myself onto Marco, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, thank god! Now I don't have to run away and change my name."

Marco kisses my forehead before resting his own against it. "You did good Jeannie! I'm so happy! And you should definitely thank Connie for helping you."

You bastard.

Connie and Sasha clap behind me. Hell, even Bertholdt is doing the same, wearing a soft smile on his face.

I just want this game to hurry up and finish because I guarantee that I could not pull that shit off again if I tried.

Ymir bowled another perfect game. And because of this perfect game, our team ended up winning.

I also ended up doing much better the second time around because I didn't throw my ball into another lane nor did I get too many gutter balls.

We're back in Sasha's aunt's car and on our way to a "special" location, as Ymir stated, hand quotations and all. I could only imagine where the hell that is.

The last time I checked the clock it was already half past two so we've already been out for awhile but we've still got plenty of time left. After all, the night is still young.

And my poor Marco is next to me falling asleep as he lays his head on my shoulder. I don't know why he's so tired, considering we just slept all day; then again, he's not used to staying up this late like I am. The damn early bird.

Sasha and Connie are up front chatting about all sorts of nonsense. I'm not really listening to them but I can hear them; it's almost calming.

We've been driving for some time now and I look out, trying to see if I can recognize where we are. Sadly, I can't tell at night where everything is, so I guess it really is a surprise.

I jump when my phone vibrates in my lap and grab it to check it. It's just a message from Historia.

**From: Tiny Blonde Girl**

** are you guys okay? are you having fun?**

**To: Tiny Blonde Girl**

** yea we****'****re good**

** marco****'****s fallin asleep**

I should really change her name in my phone before I forget who she is.

**From: Tiny Blonde Girl**

** aww!**

** well I just wanted to let u know we****'****re almost there**

Locking my phone and putting it back on my lap, I lean my head back on the seat and let out a small sigh. Fucking Marco has got me feeling sleepy now.

Maybe if I just close my eyes for a second…

I'm woken up by the sound of car doors slamming and a bunch of giggling. Holy shit, did I fall asleep? How long has it been?

I check my phone for the time and it's just at three in the morning. Where the hell did we go?

Where the hell did Sasha and Connie go?

I look around from the car and notice we're by the boardwalk next to the beach. Why the hell has my life revolved around the beach recently? But hey, at least we're the only ones here.

To my left is the old, tattered station wagon with Sasha and Connie hanging around the passenger side window. Next to them is Ymir, who's smoking a cigarette, and Reiner, who's laughing and chatting with my two nerds.

I'm too warm and cozy to want to leave, so I just turn and snuggle into my boyfriend's chest, accidentally waking him up.

"W-Wha…? Where'd we go?" he whispers quietly.

"It was all a trap. We've been kidnapped and now they're discussing our fate." I don't miss a beat when it comes to fucking around with people.

Marco tenses for a moment and looks around quickly before noticing how calm and relaxed I am. He settles back down and sighs. "It's almost unnerving how easily you can say those things."

I cackle lightly and lean up to kiss his cheek. "Sorry, it's just a habit now. I think this is the special spot Ymir talked about," I say, pointing out the boardwalk and ocean to Marco before looking back over to Sasha and the rest.

"Oh, then let's join them so the—" I cover Marco's mouth and stop him from getting out of the car. He gives me a surprised look and stops moving. I slowly shift around to face him and take my hand away from his lips, planting a loving kiss on them. I can never get over how soft they are.

"Why don't we…take our time? They'll just assume we're sleeping, so they probably won't bother us."

"What do you want to do?" Marco hums, gently caressing my face and kissing me back.

"Let's do something…fun." I wrap my arms around him, bringing him even closer.

"They could come back at any second," he whispers softly, sliding his hands down to my waist. He doesn't sound too bothered by that fact and, to be honest, it's kinda hot.

I lean in slowly, pressing my lips against his and shifting closer to him. Marco moves around awkwardly, resting his back against the door, and props his leg up on the seat, bringing me in between his legs. Keeping our lips together, I slide my hands from around his neck and down his chest slowly, making him shiver.

He pulls away for a quick breath. "W-Where'd this come from a-all of a sudden?"

"Shh, don't ruin it." I pull him back quickly and we're at it again. I nip gently at his bottom lip and smile when he makes a slight moan. Marco slips his tongue against mine, deepening our kiss.

It's just us again and I love it. Marco and I do this whenever we can; I just can't seem to keep my hands off of him. Good thing he feels the same way.

I let out a squeak when I feel Marco's curious hands grope my ass. He stops kissing me and pulls away, giving me a concerned look.

"I-Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Stop talking, Marco. It's difficult trying to kiss you if you keep running that mouth of yours," I tease, poking at his lips. He gives me a sweet smile before squeezing my ass lightly, causing me to jump. I lick my lips and press them softly against his neck, feeling incredibly brave and running high on adrenaline. I can't believe making out in a car with my friends a mere five feet away gets my blood rushing like this.

I should get out more. But that's not important right now.

I slide my hand down his chest, feeling his strong body beneath the hoodie. As he kisses me again, I feel a little bold and I slip my hand under his shirt, making him jump. The poor boy feels so hot and I didn't really help him with my cold hand against him.

He pulls our bodies closer together and leans his head back, allowing me more access to his neck. I gently lick and suck, satisfied with the small noises he makes. Marco takes one hand away from my ass to my hand that's under his shirt. He grabs it firmly and slowly runs it down to the hem of his jeans.

Oh shit.

My breath hitches against his neck as he guides my hand down over his jeans to his groin and _oh god_. I haven't felt it since our time at the beach, which seems like a hundred years ago. Marco's so excited and hard and honestly that just makes everything all the more interesting.

"Mmm, J-Jeannie, i-is this ok—" I stop him from finishing that question with long kiss.

Now what the hell did I tell this boy? This is the third time.

"It's fine," I whisper lightly. "Y-You can do what you want…"

I'm fine with this. If you want the honest to god truth, yes, I'm insanely nervous right now. I always get nervous when Marco and I do these kinds of things but it's the good nervousness.

Marco hesitates for moment, keeping my hand over his clothed dick, and gives me a shy kiss.

"D-Do you wanna t-touch it?"

_Oh._

I nod quickly, a little too quickly. Damn, I don't want to seem _that_ eager. Marco swallows and smiles at me before slowly and carefully moving my hand under his jeans, watching my face the entire time. My heart's beating so fast and it's hot in here, I could almost suffocate. Uneven breaths escape through my parted lips as I feel his soft skin and brush against the small hairs just under his belly button.

Someone knocks roughly on the window on my side, making Marco and I jump so hard he actually hits his head against his window. My poor boyfriend.

My fucking heart is beating rapidly as I quickly turn around and roll the window down.

_It__'__s fucking Ymir!_

"What the hell are you two party poopers doing?" she questions us, blowing smoke off to the side.

"W-We must've fallen asleep, I g-guess." That was an amazing attempt at keeping my voice steady.

Ymir puts the cigarette in between her lips once more and inhales. "Even under this shitty street lamp I can tell how red your face is." She gestures above her and slowly smirks. "Has little Jeanne-bo been doing naughty things? Should I go tell her friends?"

"N-No! I-I wasn't doing anything so you don't need to go running your mouth." Dear God, this couldn't get any worse, could it?

Sasha comes bouncing over at the sound of my voice. This could go either way.

"What are you doing to Jeanne, Ymir?"

Ymir waves her hand around dismissively. "Oh nothing. I just came over to wake their asses up because they're ruining the night."

I flash my middle finger to her and she retaliates by flashing up two of hers.

"Sorry, Jeanne-bo, you're number two."

"Both of you go away so Marco and I can get out." I shoo them off and they only take a few steps back. I roll the window back up, paying some attention to my neglected boyfriend, and sigh. He's holding his hand over his chest and taking deep breaths.

"Are you okay there? Do you need assistance?"

He chuckles lightly and shakes his head. "No, I'm fine. Just a little startled is all."

I gently take his hand in mine and gesture towards the door. "Come on, let's rejoin the reject party."

All right, I won't lie. Running around the boardwalk and beach at three in the morning is so fun and exciting. We played all sorts of games, like tag and such, that I didn't think I'd be playing ever again.

It really wasn't so fun tripping and landing in sand, though. Fucking Ymir and her forceful shoves.

At one point, Reiner and Ymir ganged up on Connie by lifting him up and joking that they would throw him right into the ocean. Connie screamed about how they were awful traitors the entire time. Bertholdt tried to help but Ymir got him to back off, promising that no harm would come to the small bald child. Eventually, they just settled for burying his body in the sand and we all pretended to leave him there.

Marco's been a little quiet since we almost got caught…doing things in the back of the car. Fucking Ymir; I was so close to getting some action.

That seems to be the motto of the night: Fucking Ymir.

However, even as someone who stays up late normally, trying to stay up until after five in the morning is surprisingly difficult. Connie's nodded off a few times and you know damn well Marco's snoring lightly in the back. Since Sasha didn't want Connie tracking all that sand into the car, we got to switch seats and riding up front is nice.

"I can't wait to get some food. Breakfast sounds so amazing right now," Sasha mutters happily as we're driving back through the city again, close behind the others.

I flash her a quick smile. "Don't forget, you're paying for me and Marco."

Sasha groans and I laugh at her misfortune. She mumbles something about a shit ton of pancakes and bacon as she continues to drive and I look back out the window. It's still dark like the rest of the night has been and I don't think the sun will be up for another two hours or so. The streets are bare aside from a person here and there walking around.

It's peaceful, driving out this late and not worrying about traffic or other people. And I'll have to hand it to her; Sasha's an amazing driver and not once did I ever feel in danger. Maybe I'll be nice and buy her a plate of hash browns.

Maybe one for Connie too, since he was abused and betrayed at the beach.

Speak of the fucking devil, a loud snore breaks the silence and I whip my head around to Connie. Marco startles awake and peeks around before looking at Connie, whose head is back on the seat, snoring away.

All's quiet until laughter erupts between me and Sasha in the front.

Why the fuck do random noises make for the funniest shit?

I'm tired.

I'm dead fucking tired and stuffed beyond belief.

"That was…that was fun," Marco whispers softly next to me, wrapping his arm around me as we sit closer together on the bench outside. We've finished eating at this small breakfast diner but everyone wants to take their time actually leaving.

"Yeah, it was. Who knew Historia could eat an entire platter of food for four people all by herself?" Seriously, that was amazing. I will never underestimate the power of her appetite ever again.

I lay my head on Marco's shoulder as we watch all the early birds wake up and start their days. Amazing, even on a Saturday these people get up and go jogging, go to work, or even just get up for the hell of it. I hope I don't get like that when I get older.

It's just too damn early for me to function.

Not that I can even function properly right now.

"Where are we going after this?"

"Straight to Sasha's place and crashing on the floor. Or couch. Whatever I get to first." I say firmly, yearning for a soft surface and blanket to curl up on. Oh, and I guess I'd like to have Marco there too.

It's really nice having my own personal furnace to snuggle and nap with.

Marco plants a small kiss on my forehead and rests his head against mine, simply enjoying our peaceful moment of closeness. There's a hint of light through the cracks between the buildings, showing the start of a new day. The night flew by so fast that I still need to process that it actually happened.

I'm really glad Historia invited us.

I'm really glad Sasha's aunt covered for us so Dad will let me go.

I'm also really glad that I got to share it all with Marco.


End file.
